The Branch Lines of Berkshire By Colin Maggs MBE

The Branch Lines of BerkshireAuthor(s): Colin Maggs\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Amberley Publishing, United Kingdom\nImprint: Amberley Publishing\nISBN-13: 9781848683471, 978-1848683471\nSynopsis\nMost of the branch lines of Berkshire were offshoots of the Great Western Railway, although the company was not without its competitors: both the South Eastern Railway and the London and South Western Railway gave alternative routes to London. While many lines only provided local services, two in this area linked the industrial Midlands with the south coast - the Reading to Basingstoke line and the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway. The latter was a busy route during the Second World War, when it carried troops and supplies to the coast for the invasion of Normandy in 1944. Another branch is that from Slough to Windsor. A special royal station was built at Windsor, and the line has carried the funeral train of every British sovereign since Queen Victoria. Less well known, the Wanta.