One of several Light Railways once under the control of the legendary Colonel Stephens, the KESR was closed in stages between 1954 and 1961. Part was subsequently preserved, and the contrast between the stretches left to nature and those brought back to life by the preservationists is a clear tribute to more than 25 years of progress.

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.

A safe mode of transport today, the railways were far from vehicles of sleepy commute when they first came into service; indeed, accidents were commonplace and sometimes were a result of something far more sinister. In this fresh approach to railway history, Rosa Matheson explores the grim and grisly railway past. These horrible happenings include memorable disasters and accidents, the lack of burial grounds for London's dead, leading to the 'Necropolis Railway', the gruesome necessity of digging up the dead to accommodate the railways and how the discovery of dynamite gave rise to the 'Dynamite Wars' on the London Underground in the 1880s and 1890s. Join Rosa as she treads carefully through the fascinating gruesome history of Britain's railways.

'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

Sunday Times History Book of the Year 2015 Currently filming for BBC programme Full Steam Ahead Britain's railways have been a vital part of national life for nearly 200 years. Transforming lives and landscapes, they have left their mark on everything from timekeeping to tourism. As a self-contained world governed by distinctive rules and traditions, the network also exerts a fascination all its own. From the classical grandeur of Newcastle station to the ceaseless traffic of Clapham Junction, from the mysteries of Brunel's atmospheric railway to the lost routines of the great marshalling yards, Simon Bradley explores the world of Britain's railways, the evolution of the trains, and the changing experiences of passengers and workers. The Victorians' private compartments, railway rugs and footwarmers have made way for air-conditioned carriages with airline-type seating, but the railways remain a giant and diverse anthology of structures from every period, and parts of the system are the oldest in the world. Using fresh research, keen observation and a wealth of cultural references, Bradley weaves from this network a remarkable story of technological achievement, of architecture and engineering, of shifting social classes and gender relations, of safety and crime, of tourism and the changing world of work. The Railways shows us that to travel through Britain by train is to journey through time as well as space.

Fully updated essential guide to exploring Britain by train, Railway Day Trips is ideal for anyone planning or looking for inspiration for a rail journey. From bestselling railway author Julian Holland. This pocket companion is perfect for both casual and seasoned rail travellers. Plan adventures, follow the changing landscape through the train window and discover fascinating destinations. Each journey incorporates a location map, route diagram and descriptive text on its history and geography, plus some of the highlights awaiting you at each destination. High-quality photographs illustrate every route throughout the book. Based on his extensive knowledge of British rail travel, the author reveals appealing quirks of the various routes and provides practical tips on how to make the most of your journey. 160 day trips from all over the country are featured, departing from major towns and cities and culminating at a variety of interesting destinations. This 2nd edition includes 10 new routes: * Cambridge to Ipswich * Hereford to Newport * Cardiff to Ebbw Vale * Carmarthen to Fishguard * Manchester to Southport * Sheffield to Lincoln * Middlesbrough to Newcastle * Glasgow to Perth * Edinburgh to Tweedbank * Inverness to Wick

We think of the Stephensons and Brunel as the fathers of the railways, and their Liverpool and Manchester and Great Western Railways as the prototypes of the modern systems. But who were the railways' grandfathers and great-grandfathers? The rapid evolution of the railways after 1830 depended on the juggernauts of steam locomotion being able to draw upon centuries of experience in using and developing railways, and of harnessing the power of steam. Giants the Stephensons and others may have been, but they stood upon the foundations built by many other considerable - if lesser-known - talents. This is the story of those early pioneers of steam.

A captivating journey blending memoir, history, and biography that takes the reader on one of the world's most famous trains and tells of carving the dramatic route it follows, while pondering other international railways through the eyes of travellers past and present. Rick Antonson has ridden trains in more than thirty-five countries-but almost everything he thinks he knows about train travel changes when he boards the Rocky Mountaineer with his ten-year-old grandson, Riley. As they wind over trestles and through tunnels, each mile of track uncovers stories of dynamite and discovery, surveyors and schemers, explorers and visionaries, and the people who helped to build Canada against the odds of geography and politics. Surrounded by a wild landscape that sparks imagination, fellow passengers recount train travels in other countries, get nostalgic for the era of steam locomotives, and consider life's unfinished journeys. Peppered with spirited dialogue, heartrending vignettes, and intriguing anecdotes, Train Beyond the Mountains is a travelogue with urgency: to make your travel dreams happen now. As one passenger muses, "The mistake we make is that we think we have time."

This title talks about: Sheffield and Rotherham; Pennine routes from Penistone; lines around Barnsley; Wakefield, Castleford and Knottingley; the railway town of Doncaster; and Goole and Selby.

The railway era began in Britain when steam was king. In the age of petrol and diesel, these once confident, rumbustious railways fell into decline, yet as their fortunes waned, the fascination for trains and all their works grew - and has if anything become more intense as congested roads and high-speed trains have sparked a revival in railway travel. In The Railways of Britain, Jack Simmons sympathetically tells the history of the railways and describes every major aspect of their equipment and operations: permanent way, buildings, locomotives, rolling stock, signalling and labour relations. He also makes journeys through the Pennines, Scotland, Essex and Southern England on which he acts as observer and guide. This third edition of one of the outstanding works of British railway literature has been substantially rewritten, revised and brought up to date. For the first time it has been fully illustrated in colour and black and white with more than 200 photographs, maps and engravings, many of them previously unpublished. Jack Simmons, late doyen of British railways historians, was Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Leicester. The Railways of Britain was first published in 1961 and is his best-known work. His other books include St Pancras Station, The Railway in England and Wales, 1830-1914, Transport Museums in Britain and Western Europe and The Railway in Town and Country as well as two volumes in the 11-volume Visual History of Modern Britain, of which he was General Editor.

This book provides a comprehensive study of the planning and building of railways in London's Docklands, reflecting on the past 180 years of railway development. It describes the creation of the enclosed working docks at the start of the 19th Century and the introduction of railways in the middle of the century. By the 1970's the decline of the working docks led to a plethora of plans to regenerate the area, but with little agreement on what should be done. The setting up of the London Docklands Development Corporation by the former Secretary of State for the Environment Lord Heseltine was a significant landmark, expediting the Canary Wharf development. The book describes in detail the modern railway projects, created to support the subsequent growing employment and population of the area, including the Docklands Light Railway with its multiple extensions, the Jubilee Line extension and Crossrail/Elizabeth Line. The book will appeal to a wide audience. To railway enthusiasts who wish to learn more about the why and the how such projects are approved and built and to transport and planning professionals who wish to understand more about the ups and downs of the relationship between transport and development and the decision making processes. within changing political, economic and employment scenarios. The end result has provided Docklands with a comprehensive hierarchy of quality transport services, to match anyway in the world.

When it first opened on October 27, 1904, the New York City subway ran twenty-two miles from City Hall to 145th Street and Lenox Avenue--the longest stretch ever built at one time. From that initial route through the completion of the IND or Independent Subway line in the 1940s, the subway grew to cover 722 miles--long enough to reach from New York to Chicago.

In this definitive history, Clifton Hood traces the complex and fascinating story of the New York City subway system, one of the urban engineering marvels of the twentieth century. For the subway's centennial the author supplies a new foreward explaining that now, after a century, "we can see more clearly than ever that this rapid transit system is among the twentieth century's greatest urban achievements."

In the four years between 1881 and 1885, Canada was forged into one nation by the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Last Spike reconstructs the incredible story of how some 2,000 miles of steel crossed the continent in just five years — exactly half the time stipulated in the contract. Pierre Berton recreates the adventures that were part of this vast undertaking: the railway on the brink of bankruptcy, with one hour between it and ruin; the extraordinary land boom of Winnipeg in 1881–1882; and the epic tale of how William Van Horne rushed 3,000 soldiers over a half-finished railway to quell the Riel Rebellion.

Dominating the whole saga are the men who made it all possible — a host of astonishing characters: Van Horne, the powerhouse behind the vision of a transcontinental railroad; Rogers, the eccentric surveyor; Onderdonk, the cool New Yorker; Stephen, the most emotional of businessmen; Father Lacombe, the black-robed voyageur; Sam Steele, of the North West Mounted Police; Gabriel Dumont, the Prince of the Prairies; more than 7,000 Chinese workers, toiling and dying in the canyons of the Fraser Valley; and many more — land sharks, construction geniuses, politicans, and entrepreneurs — all of whom played a role in the founding of the new Canada west of Ontario.

With 980 million passengers a year, more than 250 miles of track, literally hundreds of different stations and a history stretching back nearly 150 years, the world's oldest underground railway might seem familiar, but actually, how well do you know it? Do you know, for example, who the Queen sat next to when she first went on the Tube in 1939? Or what they did with all the earth dug out to make way for the Piccadilly Line? Or indeed why it is that without the common shipworm, Teredo navalis, the Tube network might not even exist? Thought not. But now, with 10,000 wacky facts at your fingertips, The Little Book of the London Underground will tell you everything you need to know - and plenty more that your probably don't.

The seminal and pioneering London Underground is more than a mass transportation network - it is a style icon, its history involving some of the most important architects and artists of their time. Exploring Frank Pick's vision through the development of Metroland to Holden's innovative designs, David Long expertly weaves the story of the Underground - its abundance of characters (some good, some not so good), design firsts and brand identity - with Jane Magarigal's atmospheric photography. From suburban expansion to Blitz bombings and Soviet adulation, this book celebrates what remains a magnificent engineering and aesthetic achievement while providing an affectionate if slightly elegiac portrait of a London which is now gone for good.