The North Wales landscape contains everything from steelworks and
collieries to national parks and seaside resorts. Thus, there was plenty
of traffic to interest the various railway companies that would be
established in the area. The main reason for a railway in North Wales,
however, was to create a speedier link between Westminster and Ireland.
Although the most important railway in North Wales was the Chester &
Holyhead, the first to enter the locality was the Shrewsbury & Chester
Railway, opened in 1846. The C&HR was opened two years later to connect
London with Ireland via Holyhead. From these early beginnings, we
explore the whole history of the railways in the area, through mergers
and grouping, and the trains that ran on the lines, from 'The Irish
Mail' to 'The Welsh Dragon' and summer excursion trains. Despite the
'Modernisation Plan' and 'Beeching Report', the lines to Holyhead and
the Cambrian would, once again, see steam as preserved locos headed
excursions from 1989 onwards, reliving those wonderful steam days. In
Steam Around North Wales, Mike Hitches explores the railway history of
the area in the glory days of steam. Days when the railway formed an
important part of the infrastructure and thousands of passengers used
the trains. Mike covers shed allocations, timetables and preserved lines
in this well-illustrated book.
