"Railway Memories No.17" recalls the dense and bustling rail network that once covered the mining and industrial region of South West County Durham - the very place where the whole world's railways as we know them began. With high quality photographs supported by introductory text, track layouts and operating instructions, all brought to life by the remiscences of people who knew and worked on the railways in the area, it lavishly illustrates what that railway system was like in the 1950s and 1960s before it was all wiped away along with the industries it was built to serve. At the heart of the book is the historic railway town of Darlington and its huge locomotive works while it also features stations, depots, signal boxes and operations at such places as Bishop Auckland, Barnard Castle, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Crook, Tow Law, Shildon and Richmond plus the remote and spectacular line over Stainmore - England's highest main line railway location - to Kirkby Stephen, Appleby and Penrith.