The Last Years of Steam Around Bath: 64 (Recollections) Book

The historic Georgian City of Bath is not a place that most people would think of in connection with railways or heavy industry. In 1960 however it still boasted two major stations, Bath Spa and Bath Green Park. Before Nationalisation the former was part of the Great Western Railway while the latter (known as Queen Square until 1951) was part of the London Midland & Scottish and Somerset & Dorset Joint Railways. These had always been seen by the GWR as interlopers who were siphoning off traffic from their own lines. By 1960 both stations were managed by BR's Western Region who did little to encourage traffic on the ex-LMS and S&DJR lines. After BR's Modernisation Plan of 1955 BR(WR) started to rapidly dieselise its trains through Bath Spa while those at Bath Green Park remained largely steam-hauled. In addition the Beeching Report of 1963 identified Bath Green Park for closure, a proposal which BR(WR) were soon to implement.Read More