Farewell to London's Trolleybuses.

Engineering & Transportation

Baker, Michael H.C.

Automotive

Ian Allan Publishing

The swinging sixties, with London's Carnaby Street at its heart, was the first full decade after the war when postwar shortages and rationing no longer applied. It was a decade when according to Harold Macmillan, the population of the country had never had it so good and when the Winds of Change saw Britain's continuing retreat from Empire as colonies and protectorates across the globe were granted their independence. If society was changing, so too was the infrastructure to cater for it. The increased car ownership resulting from greater personal prosperity brought problems of congestion and declining passenger transport usage. The Beeching Report on the railway industry foreshadowed the demise of many rural and secondary lines, whilst, in London, London Transport was also facing major change. The start of the decade witnessed with rapid elimination of the city's final trolleybus routes whilst the first wholly new Underground line for more than a generation, the Victoria Line, was opened. Moreover, the decade was to be the last when London Transport's responsibilities extended significantly beyond the Metropolis; it was on 1 January 1970 that the Country Area services and vehicles were transferred to the National Bus Company and recast as London Country. In an effort to save costs, One-Person Operation was introduced and, following the classic Routemaster - the last deliveries of which occurred in the mid-1960s - LT followed the national trend towards the purchase of rear-engined double-deckers as the traditional link between LT and AEC/Park Royal disappeared. In his third volume covering London Transport decade by decade, Michael Baker examines the development of London Transport during this period of transition. Drawing upon his own collection and those of other notable photographers of the period, he paints an affectionate portrait of how LT evolved during these years, how its vehicle fleet changed, how employment and staff patterns altered and how LT coped with the changing demands placed upon it by society and by government. Alongside the author's entertaining and pertinent text, the book includes some 175 mono illustrations that portray the great variety of scenes visible on London's roads and rails during this fascinating period. Over the years, Michael Baker has established himself as one of the foremost commentators on the subject of London Transport and its history; this new addition to the Ian Allan Publishing list will be sought after by all those interested in the history of LT and by those who knew London during the period, for whom the book is an exercise in pure nostalgia.

London Transport in the 1960s

The 1980s were a decade of change for London Transport. The last of the RTs and RFs were withdrawn during 1979 and during the 1980s the first large-scale withdrawal of Routemasters commenced, although many of these were to find a second career outside London as they became preferred vehicles by operators keen to acquire a competitive edge in the brave new world of Deregulation. London, too, witnessed revolution; not quite as dramatic as Deregulation but equally significant for the provision of bus services was the 1984 London Regional Transport Act. This separated London Transport from direct responsibility for running services and allowed for the process of franchising and privatisation that was to result in myriad operators - such as Kentish Bus - acquiring operations in the Metropolis and a break, for a brief period, from the predominantly red livery that had adorned London buses since the creation of the LPTB. In terms of vehicle acquisitions, the policy of acquiring vehicles specifically designed for operation in London ceased and, during the decade, many 'off the peg' designs were introduced both by the London Buses operational units and by the new entrants into the market. These included models produced by Dennis, Leyland, Volvo and Scania; some were to prove successful while others less so. In this informative new volume, Michael Baker details the history of public transport during the 1980s, to provide a concise overview of this period of dramatic and turbulent change for London Transport.

London Transport In The 1980s

History

Ian Allan Pub

London Transport from the 1930s to the 1950s

Ian Allan

Steam on the Western: The Final Decades

The Routemaster bus is a universally recognised symbol of London. Developed in the 1950s, it has been a familiar sight on the streets of the capital for half a century and still operates on selected heritage routes today. Although developed by AEC for London Transport, Routemasters were sold initially to Northern General and second-hand vehicles were later part of the fleets of other operators throughout Britain. Although its open-platform design ultimately led to it being phased out in London in 2005, it is regarded by many as a twentieth-century icon of British design. This volume tells the story of the Routemaster's development and operational history in London and elsewhere, accompanied by approximately 100 colour illustrations of the vehicle from prototypes through the changing operational scene of the last fifty years to its continuing existence today. Written by a well-known authority on the subject, Michael Baker has a number of best-selling titles to his name.

The Routemaster

Transportation

Dorset (England in cameracolour)

Town & County

In this personal celebration of Southern Electric, Michael Baker presents in words and pictures a chronicle of those first six decades and looks forward to development in the next century. Illustrated throughout.

The Southern Electric Story: A Personal Celebration of "the World's Largest Main Line Electric Railway" (The Southern Railway Collection)

Silver Link Publishing Ltd.

<p>By the end of the 1950s, steam had already mostly disappeared from passenger work in the Republic of Ireland, yet it lingered on in Northern Ireland. In fact, it lasted longer there than anywhere else on the main line within the British Isles. The products of General Motors came to dominate locomotive-hauled freight and passenger work in the entire 32 Counties, whilst electrification transformed travel in and around Dublin. Preservation has ensured that much of what might have vanished in the way of infrastructure, the iconic narrow gauge and a wonderful variety of locomotives is still there to be enjoyed by both the Irish and visitors from near and far. With over 200 images, this is a visual journey around the Emerald Isle, starting in the 1960s and moving through to modern times, showing the various traction, locomotives and stations that have made Ireland's railways what they are today.</p>

Irish Railways: The Last 60 Years (World Railways Series)

Europe

Key Publishing

<p>With over 200 images, this is a visual journey around the Emerald Isle over 100 years, moving through to modern times, showing the various traction, locomotives and stations that have made Ireland's railways what they are today.</p>

Irish Railways: 100 years (World Railways Series)

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