The steam locomotive is a machine that has inspired imagination, innovation and invention from the time of its origination and continues to evoke passion in enthusiasts today. Here Michael R. Bailey, expertly and in fascinating detail, describes the development of the steam locomotive during its pioneering first half-century until 1850 by exploring the surviving locomotives that may be seen in Britain, Europe, and North and South America. In addition to surviving relics, he also takes a look at operable replicas, which fill many gaps in international collections, to provide continuity in this evolutionary story. Exploring in depth each example's operational and preservation history, along with design characteristics, component materials and modifications made, no detail is left unmentioned. With unparalleled detail, incredibly stunning images and a list of museums housing all of the world's oldest locomotives, this truly is a volume that no student of railway history should be without.

When the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened in 1825, it was the first steam-powered railway to carry passengers. Since then there has been no shortage of music connected with trains and railways: orchestral pieces and popular songs describing railway journeys; those that celebrate the opening of a new line; worksongs and blues describing the hardship of building the railroads, even the first use of sampled music used railway sounds as its source. From the pastoral serenity of the Flanders and Swann song 'Slow train' to the shrieking horror of holocaust trains in Steve Reich's Different Trains, the railway has inspired countless pieces of music. This is the first book to give a comprehensive coverage of music connected with the railways, it describes over 50 pieces of classical music and covers more than 250 popular songs.

Nuneaton, the largest town in Warwickshire, sits on an important railway crossroads in the Midlands. At its Trent Valley station, the busy West Coast Main Line heads broadly north to south with the important link between Birmingham and Leicester crossing east to west. An equally important line heads south-east from the town, through Coventry and Leamington Spa, carrying local passengers as well as an important freight link with the docks at Southampton. This line to Coventry and beyond has had a chequered past and was one of many victims of the Beeching Axe before, fortunately, reopening to passengers in the late 1980s. The author has spent many thousands of hours watching and photographing rail movements through Nuneaton station. This publication takes a look at the considerable variety of both passenger and freight traffic on offer to the enthusiast, ranging from the everyday to the unexpected.

The British have always had a special affinity for their coastal resorts and piers are the epitome of the British seaside. This book takes the reader on a clockwise tour of our islands, stopping at every pier and walking through their histories. Yet this is not just a tour of the pier, for it is not the pier that makes the history, but the people who work and walk along it. Within these pages the reader will meet a prizefighter who achieved fame in a very different sport; learn of several 'professors' whose talents were solely being able to leap from the pier; discover why man would ever want to fly from a pier; meet the former Beatle who worked for a pier company; read about the ferries and steamers that carried visitors; the fires which are an ever-present danger; the men who designed and built the piers along with the entertainers, characters, enthusiasts and entrepreneurs who made the piers. Fascinating information is included on how piers became longer or shorter, which piers served as part of the Royal Navy during two World Wars, and the tremendous amount of work and effort it takes to keep the piers open to the public today. Several piers have embedded rails, with some still being used by trains or trams. These pier railways are described in detail: the engineering, the designs and the changes over the years. While electricity is the sole motive power today, these had once been either steam-driven, pulled by horses, moved by hand or even, in one example, wind-powered by a sail! With over one hundred photographs, both old and new, this is a tour of the coast of the mainland and two islands. Piers which sadly have not survived are included as well as those which never got off the ground (or the shoreline). It reveals why they were built, how they were repurposed over the years, and their role in the future. Join the tour and recall the sea air, candy floss, the music, the sounds of a holiday, that day trip, an encounter, a rendezvous or special memory

This new railway atlas by Stuart Malthouse is a complete labour of love and has taken many years to compile, showing as it does the railways of the South West and Central Southern England in astonishing detail. It shows a much wider range of railway types and their features than on most existing maps. The area covered extends from Cornwall in the South West to Hampshire in Central Southern England, as far north as Bristol and Swindon. Industrial railways are shown as well as passenger railways, and each map is accompanied by a detailed key of the public and private railway systems with dates of operation and gauges, stations and topographical features, together with detailed opening and closing dates and name changes. A chronology of the public railway routes also accompanies each map, which includes independent public railways or independent private railways with public rail involvement. The atlas is prefaced by 76 pages of detailed information about the railways and a detailed chronology.

The railway lines of London and the South East include tracks from all four of the constituent companies that made up British Railways and subsequently became the Eastern, Midland, Southern and Western regions. Each region took a separate approach when diesels and electrics replaced steam in the 1950s and 1960s. In June 1986 Network SouthEast was launched to collectively market passenger services throughout this area, with a distinctive livery applied to locomotives, rolling stock and stations. This lasted until it was disbanded from 1 April 1994 in preparation for privatisation, since when a variety of companies have held franchises for particular areas. This book features a selection of diesel and electric locomotives in an area of some 50-60 miles from the capital, over a period beginning in 1969. It takes the form of visiting the lines from each of the main London termini, showing a typical selection of the freight and passenger workings to be seen.

Filling a gap not visited since the same authors included it in "British Railways Past and Present No 5 The West Midlands" more than 20 years ago in 1987, not surprisingly this important area of the Black Country contains many interesting railways, and is here given a volume to itself for the first time, neatly complementing Andrew Doherty's "Rail Around Birmingham" series. This volume looks in detail at: The former LMS Stour Valley line to Wolverhampton High Level station, with Bushbury shed and Oxley carriage depot; The former GWR Low Level station, the GWR locomotive works and Oxley shed; Lines and yards around Bescot; Lines from Walsall to Rugeley, Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield; Burton upon Trent and its network of brewery railways; The Midland Metro route from West Bromwich to Wolverhampton; The Trent Valley line through Tamworth and Lichfield; Former Midland Railway lines around Tamworth; and, Mineral and colliery lines.

Crossroads of a Continent: Missouri Railroads, 1851-1921 tells the story of the state's railroads and their vital role in American history. Missouri and St. Louis, its largest city, are strategically located within the American Heartland. On July 4, 1851, when the Pacific Railroad of Missouri began construction in St. Louis, the city took its first step to becoming a major hub for railroads. By the 1920s, the state was crisscrossed with railways reaching toward all points of the compass. Authors Peter A. Hansen, Don L. Hofsommer, and Carlos Arnaldo Schwantes explore the history of Missouri railroads through personal, absorbing tales of the cutthroat competition between cities and between railroads that meant the difference between prosperity and obscurity, the ambitions and dreams of visionaries Fred Harvey and Arthur Stilwell, and the country's excitement over the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 color images of historical railway ephemera, Crossroads of a Continent is an engaging history of key American railroads and of Missouri's critical contribution to the American story.

Renowned for its express locomotive Mallard setting a world speed record (126mph) for steam locomotives that endures to this day, the London & North Eastern Railway was the second largest of the 'Big Four' railway companies to emerge from the 1923 grouping and also the most diverse, with its prestigious high-speed trains from King's Cross balanced by an intensive suburban and commuter service from Liverpool Street and a high dependence on freight. Noted for its cautious board and thrifty management, the LNER gained a reputation for being poor but honest. Forming part of a series, along with The GWR Handbook, The LMS Handbook and The Southern Railway Handbook, this new edition provides an authoritative and highly detailed reference of information about the LNER.

The first edition of this popular volume has been out of print for several years and has become much sought after. Produced in black and white, the first edition was the first volume in the series taking a detailed regional look at the Beeching Report, its proposals for closures and modifications of the UK railway network. The report has become legendary and the interest and debate it generated is no less today than it has ever been since first published. Indeed with railways now rejuvinated and passenger numbers growing ever larger, the reflection on what Beeching got right and what perhaps in hindsight got very badly wrong makes for fascinating reading. This new expanded 2nd edition has been completely reworked and is now published with colour illustrations both new and replacing the original black & white images where possible. The text has been expanded and updated as appropriate and there are 32 extra pages bringing the total extent to 192pp.

The Class 50 locomotives were built by English Electric between 1967 and 1968, and 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the locomotive's debut. Fifty examples were built, and were initially used to haul express passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line between Crewe and Scotland. Class 50s were nicknamed 'Hoovers' by rail enthusiasts because of the distinctive sound made by the air-filters originally fitted. The Class 50s were later moved to services in the south west of England, primarily on the mainline from London to Exeter, and were eventually retired from service in 1994. In the late-1970s BR was persuaded to name the class 50s after Royal Navy Vessels with notable records in the First and Second World Wars, and in January 1978 50035 was named Ark Royal by the captain and crew of then current aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. The rest of the fleet was named during the course of the next few years. The Class 50 has always been popular with railway enthusiasts, and 17 of the original 50-strong fleet are currently preserved. This Manual provides a fascinating insight into the design, manufacture, operation and restoration of the Class 50.

Covering almost every line in the country, this acclaimed series of books juxtaposes photographs of the same railway location separated in time by just a few years, or maybe a century or more. Sometimes the result is dereliction or disappearance, in others a transformation into a modern high-speed railway. In both cases, the contrasts are intriguing and informative. This volumes includes: the Midland Main Line from Wellingborough to Loughborough; the former Great Central route; LNWR lines through Northamptonshire; Melton Mowbray, Oakham and the railways of Rutland; the East Coast Main Line from St Neots to Peterborough; and, Great Eastern routes through Cambridge, Ely and March.

'British Railways Past and Present' is a nationwide series of books featuring photographs of railway locations taken several decades ago and comparing them with the same scene today. Such is the current pace of change on our railway system that even a few years can reduce a busy and vibrant railway scene to a wasteland or housing estate - or conversely can bring electrification and up-to-the-minute technology to an outdated, run-down route. The contrasts are often dramatic, while sometimes hardly anything has altered in 30 or 40 years.Whatever the change, the comparison of 'past' and 'present' will intrigue not only the railway enthusiast and historian, but also anyone interested in our recent history. This volume covers all the lines within and passing through the North and East of the County of Northamptonshire: * LNWR Blisworth-Peterborough (Nene Valley) line through Northampton Bridge Street to Elton * LNWR Seaton-Peterborough line at King's Cliffe and Nassington * Midland Main Line from Irchester through Wellingborough and Kettering to Desborough * MR branch to Northampton St John's Street * MR Rushden and Higham Ferrers branch * MR Kettering-Harringworth line via Corby * MR Kettering-St Ives branch as far as Raunds

Following the success of previous standard edition Past & Present volumes on preserved and heritage lines and the healthyon going demand we are pleased to announce this brand ne volume. Considerable further rare and interesting past images have come to light since the publication of the earlier Past & Present volume on the line from Snow Hill to Cheltenham in the series by Roger Siviter (now long out of print), and John Whitehouse has been persuaded to venture forth armed with a new selection of past images to capture the present day scene. Many new locations have been visited and once again responding to popular demand the preserved line from Cheltenham Racecourse to the newly opened Broadway station forms the core of this brand new offering. This wonderful record of the popular preserved railway is sure to be in great demand among not just hard core railway enthusiasts but also to the many thousands of nostalgia enthused vistors who travel over the line. With the opening of the new station at Broadway, this year promises to be the most succesful in the line's long and interesting history.

The formative years of Britain's railway network produced a host of ideas, activities and characters, quite a few of which now seem not only highly unusual, but sometimes little short of ridiculous. Weird schemes and designs, extravagant behaviour, reckless competition and larger-than-life characters all featured in the genuine struggle of the railway system to evolve. While the dawning of regulation and common sense brought about more uniform and responsible practices, factors like the weather and the innate complexity of railway operation continued to produce a stream of nonstandard incidents and outcomes, from wild storms to unusual equipment. This book, by ex-railwaymen Geoff and Ian Body, captures over 150 entertaining snippets, stories, and strange and unusual facts from an ample supply of railway curiosities.

This is the story of a now-disused branch of the Underground between Holborn and Aldwych. Although just a quarter of a mile long, it was a hopeless enterprise from the early 20th century beginnings and never covered its costs. For such a small stretch of railway, it has a surprisingly colourful history, especially during wartime and when its lengthy disused spaces have been used for experimental design work and film jobs. In an attempt to make something more of it, extension of the branch frequently beckoned but never came. The station at Aldwych and the running line to Holborn remain today, but not for passengers.

The North British Railway's West Highland Line, stretching from the banks of the Firth of Clyde to Fort William, opened in 1894, and was subsequently extended to the fishing port of Mallaig on the Atlantic coast in 1901. It is this latter part of the `Iron Road to the Isles' that forms the major part of this book, hailed as one of the most scenic railway routes in the British Isles. Steam trains returned to the Mallaig line in 1984, eventually becoming the celebrated `Jacobite' service. Now an integral and indispensible part of the Scottish tourist scene, the trains run from Easter to Christmas and the New Year, twice daily during the peak season. In this superbly illustrated portrait of the line, 35 of the UK's top railway photographers have contributed pictures to create a quite stunning pictorial record. The great variety of photographic styles, using the route's many glorious vantage points, provides a mesmerising mix of unforgettable images, not just of the steam trains themselves but also the majestic Scottish landscape through which they run.

The book concentrates on the London Midland Region in the final years of steam traction covering the period 1948 to 1966. All major London Midland Region towns and cities are represented. - A fascinating collection of hitherto unpublished black and white photographs by former Senior British Medical Council researcher, Ben Brooksbank. - Over 275 photographs are included. - The photographs show remarkable clarity even though photographic materials were difficult to obtain during the immediate post-war period. - Many different classes of locomotives are featured, ranging from the old Midland and LNWR engines ready for withdrawal in the late 1940s, the ex- MR Johnson 0-6-0s which would survive a little longer, the Fowler classes quietly going about their business, the Stanier Class 5 and 8Fs covered in grime, but still efficient, while a bit of 'glamour' is provided by (some) neatly turned out named 'Jubilee' 4-6-0s and 'Coronation' Pacifics. The next generation of locomotives - the BR Standards - also appear, with the 'Britannia' Pacifics included along with Class 5 4-6-0s, Class 4 4-6-0s, Class 4 2-6- 0s, Class 3 2-6-2Ts and the heavy freight 9F 2-10-0s. - Photographs have been taken from the line-side, on station platforms, on shed, around a number of Works and along lines which have long since disappeared. - The captions are well researched and include locomotive details as well as historical information about the various routes, stations and other architectural features