53A Models Photo Site - The Post-Privatisation Era. The railways of Britain, in public ownership since 1948, were effectively de-nationalised during late 1995 and early 1996; for convenience I have assumed that this occurred on 1st January 1996. Privatisation effectively meant fragmentation, with train operation being split between several freight companies and numerous passenger train operation companies (TOCs) the latter, in the main, continuing to receive substantial public subsidy. The infrastructure, however, went into the hands of a totally different company known as Railtrack plc, which in 2001 was put into the hands of Administrators by the Secretary of State for Transport. At the time of writing the assets of Railtrack plc were expected to be acquired by a new 'not-for-profit' company, likely to be called Network Rail. Outwardly these changes provided the enthusiast with a vast array of new liveries and a railway network bursting with colour. Orders for new locomotives followed from EWS, Freightliner and more recently GB Railfreight, all of which selected the Class 66 type from General Motors in Canada, and which, as deliveries got into full swing saw them replacing traditional forms of UK traction with Classes 31, 37, 47, 56 and 58 declining rapidly in numbers, with some disappearing altogether. John Turner, owner of 53A Models, a shop in Hull specialising in model railways, has been photographing trains for the best part of forty years. These pages relate specifically to the post British Rail era and are published on this website for your enjoyment. Feel free to download and print them out for your own use, but please remember that all images are copyright and must not be used for commercial purposes or redistributed without written permission from the copyright owners. John Turner, 53A Models, Hull. CONTINUE TO POST-PRIVATISATION IMAGES VISITS TO THIS SITE SINCE 21/4/02 -