This is a rare shot showing the electrified industrial railway at Kearsley near Manchester, back in 1974. I'm not sure about the current (no pun intended!) state of this line, but what I do know is that the industrial railway will soon make a comeback big time!
When I started this blog not a lot of people were aware of Peak Oil but in the last year or two it's an issue that's becoming ever more important. Whilst some roads may survive within towns and cities for electric vehicles and horse drawn traffic, it's highly unlikely that roads BETWEEN places will survive. At the same time most if not all freight will switch to rail, and many industrial locations, if they are to continue, will need dedicated rail access. This will mean a network of industrial railways springing up, as well as agricultural lines and lines into markets. Some will be electrified but many will use wood burning steam - diesels will vanish in step with oil.
I've been buying up negatives and slides of mainly diesel locomotives and industrial lines for The Rail Thing, which should launch fully later this year.
