London Traction

Hugh Llewelyn takes a look at the wide variety of traction in and around London over several decades.

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Hugh Llewelyn has visited, lived and/or worked in London since the 1950s and began taking railway photographs in the early 1960s. This volume covers diesel and electric traction, both modern and classic, from that time until now, in black and white in the early years and colour since the mid-1970s. A wide definition of ‘London’ has been taken, with those areas of the Home Counties nearest the capital included to add to the diversity of locations.

London has always been fortunate in having a huge variety of traction to photograph, all regions of British Railways except the Scottish serving the capital and even locomotives from Scotland being seen there. In the days of sectorisation, the wider London area was unique in having a tailor-made sector to serve it in the form of Network SouthEast, and since privatisation we have had a large – and seemingly ever changing – number of companies serving the city. This volume illustrates the great interest to be enjoyed in traction in and around the capital.