Author : Bob Yate
ISBN : 9780853617686
Cover : paperback
Price : £34.95

An in-depth study of the Stour Valley Line in the more recent Oakwood Press large format, at the request of the author. The line is so-called because of the name of the company that built it, not because of the route which does not go through the Stour Valley! Instead it traverses what was the highly industrialised landscape of the West Midlands. The history is complex so the book begins with a helpful two page chronology. Eleven chapters follow, dealing with the beginnings, construction and opening of the line and a description of the route then dealing with connecting lines, passenger services, goods workings, operations, motive power depots, operational procedures, the Harborne Branch and modernisation as the book continues the story right up to recent times. Three appendices cover goods workings in 1958/59, Harborne Branch trip workings and industrial locomotives.