BR blue no. 5: passenger and parcels

The BR Blue period continues to grow in popularity, a mark of this being that is now the fifth volume in what is a popular series. Regular author John Dedman - whose previous volumes in the series have been, "Southampton and the New Forest", "Western Region South and West", and "Freight in the 1980's" - now turns his attention to the passenger traffic of the period, both locomotive hauled and DMU operated. In the compilation of any book there is always a decision to be made between portraying the regular or unusual. John has opted to do both, hence we see the standard locomotive hauled 'Inter-City' and cross country services, as well as the DMU, including occasions when a locomotive and perhaps two coaches might have replaced a DMU or a rake of DMU's replaced a locomotive hauled train! The coverage is almost country wide although the majority feature in area where locomotive and DMU operation was prominent.