British Rail Shunters: The Final Years

The first half of the 1990s was a period of significant change for the BR shunter fleet, which by now almost entirely consisted of Class 08s and Class 09s. The Sectorisation structure that had been in place at the beginning of the decade was replaced in the run up to privatisation with the locomotives divided up between passenger and freight operators in preparation for selling off to private companies. At the same time, rationalisation of the fleet was continuing as traffic levels continued to fall while new hire firms began to emerge, these offering shunters to industrial concerns. This naturally brought a plethora of colourful liveries as the new operators divested themselves from BR. This book examines this period of great change, culminating with the final demise of the national railway operator in 1997.