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Books > Sport & Leisure > Transport: general interest > Trains & railways: general interest
Railway buildings have always had a fascinating character all of
their own, despite many no longer being in operational railway
service. This book tells the story of how these buildings evolved
alongside the development of the railway in Great Britain and
examines how architects over the years have responded to the
operational, social and cultural influences that define their work.
Written for those with a keen interest in architecture and the
railway, as well as those new to the subject, The Architecture and
Legacy of British Railway Buildings provides an unique insight into
the production of railway architecture, both in the context of
railway management and the significant periods of ownership, and
the swings in national mood for railway-based transportation. As
well as tracing its history, the authors take time to consider the
legacy these buildings have left behind and the impact of heritage
on a continually forward-looking industry. Topics covered include:
the context of railway architecture today; the history of how it
came into existence; the evolution of different railway building
types; the unique aspects of railway building design, and finally,
the key railway development periods and their architectural
influences.
Crewe needs little introduction. Even in a country built on
railways, with many other railway centres, Crewe is a railway town
that is unequalled: five major routes, several motive power depots,
an extensive station, large marshalling yards and at one time the
largest locomotive works in the world. The British Rail corporate
era was the end of a golden age for the enthusiast; around Crewe
the railway remained much as it had been in steam days, the station
layout was unmodernised, two large motive power depots were in full
use and the still vast locomotive works built and repaired
locomotives in large numbers. This was a fascinating time of
loco-hauled trains, traction exchange, parcels and mail services,
freight and trip workings, new and ex-works locomotives and an
almost continuous flow of trains. Only after much of this had
disappeared did we realise what had gone. Though blue was the order
of the day, it was far from dull. With an array of previously
unpublished photos, this book looks back to a time when a trip to
Crewe never failed to deliver!
The Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society was the first such
organisation in the world, and the inaugural society-operated train
on 14 May 1951 heralded the dawn of the railway preservation
movement in Britain. In the ensuing years, from its decrepit state
in 1950 to its present-day role as one of the 'Great Little Trains
of Wales', many changes have taken place on the railway, while some
aspects remain remarkably unchanged.
The line from Settle to Carlisle is one of the world's great rail
journeys. It carves its way through the magnificent landscape of
the Yorkshire Dales - where it becomes the highest main line in
England - descending to Cumbria's lush green Eden Valley with its
view of the Pennines and Lakeland fells. But the story of the line
is even more enthralling. From its earliest history the line
fostered controversy: it probably should never have been built,
arising from a political dispute between two of the largest and
most powerful railway companies in the 1860s. Its construction,
through some of the most wild and inhospitable terrain in England,
was a Herculean task. Tragic accidents affected those who built,
worked and travelled the line. After surviving the Beeching cuts of
the 1960s, the line faced almost certain closure in the 1980s, only
to be saved by an unexpected last-minute reprieve. This book
describes the history behind the inception and creation of the
line; the challenges of constructing the 72-mile railway and its
seventeen viaducts and fourteen tunnels; threat of closure in the
mid-1980s and the campaign to save it, and finally, the line today
and its future.
This is the ninth volume in the ten-part series of regional books
examining the industrial railways of England, Scotland and Wales.
Like elsewhere in Britain, changes have been far-reaching in
industry, and Scotland has certainly suffered considerably in
recent decades with the loss of its traditional coal mining, steel
and manufacturing industries, especially many of those that were
once located around its Central Belt. The diversity of the
locomotives and the railways that once served industry in Scotland
is a fascinating and neglected subject, and both standard and
narrow gauge systems, most of which no longer survive today, are
covered within the pages of this book. The author presents an array
of striking images, both in colour and black and white, that strive
to include some feel for the locations being studied, covering the
broad spectrum of industrial railways that once existed in
Scotland. These mostly previously unpublished photographs,
accompanied by detailed captions, reflect the changing face of
Scottish industry over the last six decades or so. As the title
suggests, this book is chiefly about Scotland's industrial railways
and its locomotives, many actually constructed in Scotland, but
this work is also a sad reminder of how much our traditional
industries have contracted, or have even been lost entirely over
this period, either through globalisation of manufacturing, or the
importation of commodities at a cheaper market rate than could have
been obtained at home.
Concentrating on the famous 16-mile preserved stretch, this book
also looks at the whole of the original route from Shrewsbury to
Kidderminster and Hartlebury, and on to Droitwich and Worcester. We
also enjoy a glimpse of the connecting lines to Craven Arms,
Wellington and Woofferton, including the delightful Cleobury
Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway.
Of all the products of the Industrial Revolution, none left its
mark on the landscape of Britain, or changed the lives of the
British people, more than the railway. The encyclopedic Oxford
Companion to British Railway History reveals, for the first time,
the full story of this remarkable achievement: the inspired
pioneers, the unprecedented feats of engineering, the romance, and
the reality. From the primitive wagonways of the seventeenth
century, through the eras of horse, steam, diesel, and electric
traction, it explores the railway's unique place in our history,
and the reasons for its extraordinary and enduring hold on our
collective imagination. Unrivalled authority Over 600 entries by 88
distinguished contributors chart the progress of rail travel from
1603 to the late twentieth century. Comprehensive coverage Covers
not only the technical and historical development of the railway,
but its social, economic, political, and artistic aspects.
Illustrated throughout Maps, diagrams, tables, and illustrations
bring the text to life and demystify technical concepts. People,
places, and politics Covers the key figures who influenced the
development of the railways, the towns that were changed forever,
and the policies that brought about the network's rise and fall.
The story of Gresley and his locomotives is a well-trodden path.
But our view of his achievements is a blinkered one because it
fails to recognise all the other people who played a part in his
work. As the leading American aviation engineer Paul S Baker wrote
in 1945 the day of one-man engineering is long gone. You might as
well print the organisation table of the engineering department
when trying to assign credit for a particular design'. To Gresley
must go great credit for many of the LNER's achievements, but those
around him have faded into obscurity and are now largely forgotten
even though their contributions were immense. To redress this
balance, the author has explored the lives of Gresley and his team
and sought to uncover a more expansive picture of these events.
This in no way diminishes Gresley's accomplishments, which are
immense by any standards, but builds a more authentic view of a
dynamic period in railway history. The book draws upon many sources
of information, some of it previously unpublished. This has helped
present a fascinating picture of all that happened and all that was
achieved, often in the most difficult of circumstances, by a very
gifted team of engineers and their exceptional leader.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel considered the Great Western Railway the
'finest work in England' and he contributed many groundbreaking
features, none so unorthodox as the decision not to adopt the
'standard' track gauge of 4ft 81/2in and instead introduce the new
'broad gauge' of 7ft 1/4in. Describing the rationale behind the
choice of broad gauge, and also the unique track and locomotives
used, this beautifully illustrated introduction to broad gauge
railways chronicles the building of the original GWR between
Bristol and London, and the expansion of that original 112-mile
main line into a network stretching across the West of England,
Wales and the Midlands. It describes how the clash between broad
and narrow led to the 'Battle of the Gauges' and also provides a
list of places to visit where broad gauge artefacts still survive.
Mind the gap and jump aboard this fascinating history of the
world's oldest and greatest underground railway. On seven guided
journeys, travel through time and observe at first hand the
influence of great Underground architects, such as Charles Holden
and Sir Norman Foster, and how the stations have changed - but also
how many things have stayed the same.
Paddington is part of a hub of underground stations and is home to
the world's most famous bear, named after the station. Revel in the
selection of images of Paddington Through Time and see how Brunel's
masterpiece has stood the test of time. 'I am going to design, in a
great hurry, and I believe to build, a station after my own fancy,'
stated Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1851. That station, the second to
bear the name 'Paddington', was to be another Brunel masterpiece.
His delight at the prospect of building a replacement and permanent
station at Paddington is self-evident. The new station was to be
built on the plot of land just south of the Bishop's Road Bridge,
defined by Eastbourne Terrace and Praed Street on two sides, and by
London Street and the canal on the northeast side. Because the new
station would be located almost entirely within a cutting, there
would be no grand exterior, and instead, Brunel impressed with his
immense roof of iron and glass. Paddington is currently in the
middle of a huge redevelopment that has seen it retain much of its
nineteenth-century design, but updated to suit traffic flows of
today. Millions pass through the station weekly, both to the West
and Wales and to Heathrow on the Heathrow Express.
Even in 1973 much of the steam infrastructure was still to be
found, but as modernisation took hold diesels were being joined by
electric locomotives in increasing numbers. This was the height of
the 'loco-hauled' era on the main line. In the wider world hostages
were taken at the Olympic Games, and President Nixon visited China.
This is the 49th volume in the Recollectios series and the second
title published by Silver Link to celebrate the Talyllyn Railway.
As with all the titles in the recollections series this volume is
aimed at the general market as much as the enthusiast - designed
for easy reading and enjoyment rather than a 'rivet counting'
approach! Since 1951, when the railway was first taken over by
preservationists, great improvements have been made; volunteer
members of the TRPS now provide most of the train crew and station
staff required to operate the line, and assist with maintenance
work and with many other activities. The track has been relaid,
locomotives have been acquired and rebuilt, additional carriages
have been constructed, a safe and flexible signalling system has
been installed, and the many other improvements needed to cater for
the much increased number of passengers have been carried out. But
the TR is still very much the railway it always was, a rural byway
where the pace of life is gentle, the average speed of the train is
still less than nine miles per hour, and passengers can have an
unhurried journey along the beautiful and unspoilt Fathew Valley.
Both the original locomotives and all the original carriages remain
in regular use to this day.
As the modernisation of the former British Railways moved forward
into Railtrack and then Network Rail, various schemes to bring the
West Country railway network up to date came... and went!
Consequently, the far west of the network from Plymouth to Penzance
became locked in a kind of time warp of semaphore signalling and
cascaded rolling stock. During the last forty or so years, Cornwall
has seen the demise of once common classes of locomotives and the
introduction of the famous HSTs, Class 66s and Voyagers, though
journey times have changed little - mainly due to the nature of the
route, but the largest hindrance to an improved service is the lack
of signals. The signalling was over-rationalised, though the issue
was partially rectified with minor upgrade schemes. This book aims
to bring back memories of traction once common, or not so common,
on the rails of the Duchy of Cornwall.
This new history reveals the previously untold story of why and how
trains have been used to transport the dead, enabling their burial
in a place of significance to the bereaved. Profusely illustrated
with many images, some never previously published, Nicolas
Wheatley's work details how the mainline railways carried out this
important yet often hidden work from the Victorian age to the
1980s, as well as how ceremonial funeral transport continues on
heritage railways today. From royalty, aristocrats and other VIPs
(including Sir Winston Churchill and the Unknown Warrior) to
victims of accidents and ordinary people, Final Journey explores
the way in which these people travelled for the last time by train
before being laid to rest.
The North British Locomotive Company came into existence in 1903 as
an amalgamation of three established Glasgow locomotive
manufacturers: Dubs & Co., Sharp Stewart and Neilson Reid. Each
of these companies enjoyed an excellent reputation for its products
both at home and abroad. The amalgamation that formed NBL created
the largest locomotive builder in the British Empire, building on
the worldwide renown of its predecessors and exporting its products
all over the world to places as diverse as Palestine, New Zealand,
South Africa and Canada. Its locomotive output was as varied as its
clients, with steam locomotives of every gauge, and ranging from
tiny tank engines to massive Beyer-Garratts. Moving with the times,
North British entered the market for diesel and electric traction
after the Second World War and its lack of success in this field
ultimately brought the company to its knees. Here, Colin Alexander
and Alon Siton present a lavishly illustrated exploration of one of
Britain's greatest locomotive companies, including the products of
its three Victorian constituents and official works photographs,
images of locos in service and some of the many preserved Dubs,
Sharp Stewart, Neilson and North British locomotives on heritage
railways and in museums around the world.
British Railways Past and Present is a natio nwide series of books
featuring photos of railway locations taken several decades ago and
comparing them with the same s cene today. This volume covers Avon,
Cotswolds and the Malve rns. '
The Hayling Island Branch was one of Britain's most iconic sea side
lines, connecting Havant with Hayling Island via Langston Harbour.
Opening in 1865 for freight and 1867 to passenger traffic, it was
after a few years of local control, managed and operated as part of
the London Brighton & South Coast Railway, who were responsible
for its upkeep until the railway grouping in 1923, when it became a
part of the Southern Railway. The railway had a colourful and
bucolic existence, with trains headed by the attractive Stroudley
Terrier class tank locomotives and a collection of vintage carriage
stock. In 1948 the branch became part of the Southern Region of
British Railways, carrying on as a local and at times heavily used
branch line, until its closure in November 1963\. Today the lines
track bed is a walking path from end to end, with only the former
goods shed at Hayling Island to show the visitor any tangible
evidence of the railways existence.
This examination of the relationship of the economy to political
process in the United States from 1877 to 1916 shows how the
railroad industry encouraged and relied on national politics to
solve its economic problems, and created a precedent for government
regulation of the economy in the twentieth century. The continuity
in governmental regulation from 1877 to 1900, in the Progressive
Era, and in the administrations of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson are
pointed out. The origin of each major federal railroad act and
contending forces is analyzed. Federal regulation of the railroads,
probably the most important example of federal intervention in the
economy from the Civil War to World War I is used as a key in
reassessing the motives behind Progressivism. Originally published
in 1965. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest
print-on-demand technology to again make available previously
out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton
University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of
these important books while presenting them in durable paperback
and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is
to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in
the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press
since its founding in 1905.
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