IT WAS three years since Harold Wilson had become Prime Minister having coined the phrase before his election in 1964 'the white heat of technological revolution'. For the railways it was a time of very mixed messages because of the scale of modernisation being undertaken. This ranged from railway lines being closed and services axed through to the advent of the InterCity brand and the modern fast travel it represented. Freight handling was to change out of all recognition, with the universal requirement to carry everything removed, and the development of specialised freight services based on containerisation and bulk haulage such as 'merry-go-round' coal traffic for power stations.
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