The 1950s saw a realisation that British Railways needed to modernise its equipment and rationalise its network if it was to hold its own in the face of growing competition from road and air transport. The next decade brought line closures, new liveries and the last breath of steam, as Doctor Beeching and his successors strove to break even and build a new business from the old. From Britannia to the Blue Pullman, Evening Star to Inter-City, Greg Morse takes us through this turbulent twenty-year period, which started with a poor bag of assets and ended with BR poised to launch the fastest diesel-powered train in the world.