Nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948 was greeted enthusiastically, at least by the staff. But the public, weary of nearly a decade of war & shortages, were already looking towards a brighter, more prosperous future - one aspiration was a car on the front drive! By 1955, people were deserting the railway network in dramatic fashion - and the mood in the country was that railways were 'old style' & would go the way of the canals: road transport (& air travel for long-haul) was the future.

West Moors was at this time a small country community and the rail traffic generated was sparse - the end could not be too long delayed.