Britain Paralysed By Nation Wide Rail Strike -- Waterloo, one of London's main line stations, deserted. Britain - a nation which relies on the railways for its prosperity - is now trainless. All the nation's essential services are threatened by the lighting strike called at Whitsun by the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen. The docks, mines, steel foundries, agriculture communications, all are slowly grinding to a standstill as the paralysis bites deeper into a hard hit nation. Unless the railway strike ends in the next 48 hours the Government is expected to declare a State of Emergency. May 31, 1955. (Photo by Evening Standard).