RAILWAY lovers will be able to turn back the clock this Friday with the launch of a new book entitled 'The Earl of Dudley's Railway'.

The book has been written by Black Country historian and author Ned Williams and will be available to view at Brierley Hill Methodist Church in Bank Street from 7-30pm.

This will be prolific writer Ned's 49th book which describes the extensive private railway system that was built to connect the Earl of Dudley's pits with the canal system and his iron works in Brierley Hill, which later became Round Oak Steel Works.

The 160-page book cites the routes this busy little industrial railway took, stretching from Cradley Heath in one direction right upto Baggeridge Colliery in the other, while also going out to Ashwood Basin on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.

Profusely illustrated with pictures of the line, its locomotives and the men who worked on it, the book also describes the passenger trains that operated from Brierley Hill to Himley Hall every August from 1928 until 1938, taking the Earl of Dudley's employees to the annual fetes.

Its story begins in 1829 and takes readers right through to the present day as one tiny fragment of the system still continues to be used.

Anyone interested can meet Ned on Friday and inspect the book with him.