THE year is 1969 and a diesel loco makes one of the last journeys through Leigh to Liverpool Lime Street along a soon to be redundant rail route.

David Norman's photo of a DMU travelling between Pennington and Kenyon on the Manchester Exchange -- Tyldesley -- Leigh -- Liverpool Lime Street service, appears in Leigh railway author Dennis Sweeney's great historical trilogy covering local railway history.

Tyldesley-born Mr Sweeney, who now lives in Wigan Road, Leigh, longs for the day when Leigh will be reconnected to the nation's rail network.

An idea of what the area was like in the heyday of steam and the early days of diesel locomotion can be seen in Mr Sweeney's publications which bring to life the atmosphere of the iron road.

And his authoritative captions will appeal to anyone with an inkling of an interest in local history, as well as satisfying a thirst for knowledge of even the most avid railway buff.

Available again is the reprinted part one of "A Lancashire Triangle". This limited edition of the sell-out part one, packed with some great black and white photographs, is available at £25 from the Journal Office, 44/46 Railway Road, Leigh.

Also available is the Colour of a Lancashire Triangle, which as the title suggests is crammed with colour photographs, at £13.95.

Readers may be able to help put names to faces in the trackside shot, believed to have been taken at Golborne Junction, possibly in the 1940s.

If you have any ideas who these four permanent way gang members are, drop a line to the Editorial Department, The Journal, 44/46 Railway Road, Leigh WN7 4AT.