Great Central Railway

Joint Operations Around Manchester and in South Yorkshire, is the latest volume in a series of books by Robert Pixton, covering the lines across the Pennines, especially those of the former Great Central. This volume looks at the joint lines that once served the area from Lancashire to Yorkshire, serving heavy industry and providing an intense passenger service in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The lines and services declined on many of the branch lines and some of the cross-country lines by the 1950s, heralding there final demise in the early 1960s, as a result of, the Reshaping of British Railways. Today there are still a few important corridors crossing this area of the north of England, which have become increasingly important in recent times as roads become more congested and bus services are, cut back.

This book illustrates one of the country's best-loved railway companies in the days of steam. Maps, charts, timetables and photographs are used to give the reader a sense of a journey from the compact terminus in Manchester to Godley, the limits of the system, at first opening. The reader is transported back to the original London Road station, using maps, and is walked through the small station to notice the variety of engines, signals and trains that operated there. Gorton, the company's shed and locomotive works as well as it is across the track rivals of Beyer, Peacock, are studied. The railway crossroad at Guide Bridge is given due importance and readers may well ponder on the contrast of ruralness of Ardwick, Fairfield and Fallowfield, then, and now. Connections at the joint stations of Stalybridge and Manchester Central station are explored. The latter is expanded to include Old Trafford shed as well as the links to Trafford Park Estate.

Joint Operations Around Manchester and in South Yorkshire, is the latest volume in a series of books by Robert Pixton, covering the lines across the Pennines, especially those of the former Great Central. This volume looks at the joint lines that once served the area from Lancashire to Yorkshire, serving heavy industry and providing an intense passenger service in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The lines and services declined on many of the branch lines and some of the cross country lines by the 1950s, heralding there final demise in the early 1960s, as a result of the Reshaping of British Railways. Today there are still a few important corridors crossing this area of the north of England, which have become increasingly important in recent times as roads become more congested and bus services are cut back.