| Preston-related
sites |
|
Ribble Steam Railway Discussion Forum |
Does
what it says on the tin! For discussion about all aspects of our
very own heritage line. |
| Marsh
End Railway |
A nice
website for anyone interested in Preston and/or model railways.
Andy's site is about a fictitious branch line in the Penwortham
area, which he has modelled. An imaginative "history" and
map section give a nice background to the layout. |
| Tunnel
Visions |
An
interesting art project website by Elaine Speight about the Miley
Tunnel. |
|
Preston &
District Model Railway Society |
Caters
for all scales and levels of ability. The Society's annual
Exhibition is held in January and is highly recommended for anyone
interested in railway modelling. |
|
Longton Online |
Longton's
very own website, covering all aspects of the town, its people and
history. |
| Railway
Information and Societies |
| NEW
The Train of Hope |
Charity
auctions and a steam railtour for 2011, in aid of CLIC Sargent
childrens charity. |
| NEW
Poulton & Wyre Railway Society |
The
P&WRS are on the verge of achieving their aim of reopening the
mothballed line from Poulton to Fleetwood. Good progress has been
made on the scheme which would see Northern Rail operate the line
during the week, with weekend operations being given over to
preserved traction. Current plans should see trains running on part
of the line as soon as 2012... |
| British
Railways in 1960 |
Brian
Robertson's excellent site based on the BR Sectional Appendix. It
contains a wealth of information about the rail network as it stood
in 1960, detailing stations, signal boxes, distances and line
speeds. |
| The
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society |
A
well-run society, which welcomes anyone with an interest in the
"Lanky". Their regular newsletters and other publications
are particularly good, and hold a large selection of historical
material about the L&YR. |
| The
London & North Western Railway Society |
The
society which covers the L&NWR in a similar way to the L&YRS.
As with that group, the L&NWRS produce some excellent
publications. |
| The
LMS-Patriot Project |
The home
of the project to recreate a lost class of locomotive. All the
Patriots (also known as "Baby Scots"), were, sadly,
scrapped in the 1960s, leaving the preservation movement without an
example of this popular and successful type. |
| The
Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust |
Custodians
of 6233 Duchess of Sutherland. |
| The
Railway Corespondence & Travel Society |
The
Lancashire & North West branch of the RCTS has regular meetings
at the Claremont Hotel in Preston, throughout the winter.
Non-members are most welcome to come along. |
| Strathspey
Railway |
Home
of former Lostock Hall resident Black Five (4)5025. When restored,
5025 will run between Aviemore and Broomhill, and eventually on to
Grantown-on-Spey. |
| The
Watkinson Trust |
The
Watkinson Trust - custodians of Black Five no.(4)5025 - a long-term
resident of Lostock Hall Shed. The loco is currently undergoing
restoration |
| Carnforth
Station website |
The
Carnforth Station and Visitor Centre website has everything you
would want to know about the famous station which featured in the
film Brief Encounter. |
| 4936
Kinlet Hall Group |
A
Yahoo! Group for those involved in, and interested in, the
restoration og GWR "Hall" 4936 Kinlet Hall. |
| Online
aerial photos & mapping
|
| Mario
Map |
Run by
Lancashire County Council, this site has a huge amount of
information, including modern and old OS maps, aerial photos from
the 1940s and 1960s as well as the present day. |
| Google |
Google
Earth is a nice toy, but I prefer to access their aerial photos via
the Google Maps page. The current images have a nasty join right
across the middle of the station! |
| Live
Local - Preston Station Aerial |
Microsoft
have Virtual Earth which is a clone of Google Earth. They also have
Live Local which is similar to Google Maps but has some nice extra
features such as the ability to see high-res source images which
haven't been mangled to produce the illusion of a satellite view.
The "Birds Eye View" option produces by far the best
aerial images of Preston. |
| Suppliers
of old maps |
| Old
Towns of England |
Although
some old OS maps have been reprinted over the years, it can be
difficult to find maps covering many areas. Chris at Old Towns has a
large collection of maps which are available as crisp digitally
restored A2 prints. |
| Photographs |
| NEW
Kevin Delaney's
Upmain Foto Gallery |
Kevin's
RailPic site features some superb shots from preserved lines all
round the country. |
|
Nettletea |
There
are several Ebay sellers who specialise in vintage railway
photographs, but some are more helpful than others. Allan "Nettletea"
Wood is amongst the best. |
| Deva-Bob |
Another
recommended Ebay photo seller. |
| Railways
of Huddersfield |
Neil
Dimmer has supplied several 1980s photos used elsewhere on this
site, but he also has a number of websites dedicated to various
railway subjects |
| Deltic
21 Photo Site |
Rob
Maynard's site has lots of nice photos - not only Deltics, but many
taken at Preston over the last few years. |
|
World Steam Locos and World Modern Traction Pictures |
Keith
Till has provided some interesting photos for this site, taken in
the 1970s. Keith's Fotopic site has an interesting selection of
photos across the railway spectrum. |
|
The Ian Birch Archive |
Just how
I remember it !
Ian has shared his photos of Preston in the early/mid 1980s. They
show just how busy it was back then with more blue locos than you
could shake a stick at! |
|
Carl Hodginson |
Carl has
a cracking fotopic site with photographs covering mainly the North
West over the last 20-odd years. There are many photos of Preston in
amongst them with an emphasis on the latter days of rail blue and
beyond. |
| Northwest
Railway Photography |
Mike
Birtles' site is updated almost on a daily basis, with
bang-up-to-date, high quality photos of the Preston railway scene
and beyond. |
|
Old Rail Scene Scans |
Also
from Mike Birtles...a fascinating gallery of BR
Blue era photos, which include some shots of Ladywell and Preston. |
| Andy
Stuart's Fotopic |
Andy
Stuart's Fotopic site includes photos from around the North West,
including Preston, Dating from the present day back to the 1980s |
| YouTube
Video |
| David
Michael's Videos |
A
nice YouTube channel which has plenty of Preston material. |
| Railway
Book Suppliers |
| Martin
Bott |
Has a
book shop in Horwich, Bolton, but also has an excellent on-line
shop. |
| Nick
Tozer |
Another
good on-line book seller, based in Huddersfield, who also attends
model railway exhibitions. |
| Miscellaneous |
| Classics
in Brass |
Producers
of framed brass engravings, including 6233 Duchess of Sutherland,
and 60163 Tornado. |
