Whether you are making a long grand tour or just planning a couple of weekend breaks, Europe by Rail is the perfect guide. The book describes 50 key routes in detail. Together, they span mainland Europe and the British Isles. Each route can be followed in its entirety or used as a building block in a longer itinerary. Beyond the main routes you will find worthwhile excursions well off the beaten track. Written by two highly experienced travellers, Europe by Rail contains useful tips about how to plan your journey, what tickets to buy and where to stop off along the way. There are special sections for holders of rail passes, including Interrail and Eurail, as well as information on night trains. The country guide summarizes key information about travelling by train through each of the four dozen countries listed. Apart from being full of good advice and up-to-date information, Europe by Rail is also a great read. With its nicely opinionated style and lots of cameo accounts of travel history, there's plenty here for armchair travellers too. Now in its 17th edition, Europe by Rail really is the definitive guide on how to get the very best out of Europe’s excellent rail network.

The first of two volumes, "Wildfire through Staffordshire" presents the very best from Osborne, Wild and Roscoe, who each published their own early "Railway Traveller's Guides" shortly after the opening of the country's first ground-breaking trunk line, the Grand Junction railway, on the 4th of July 1837. This publication is lavishly and uniquely supplemented with commissioned poems by Ian Henery as well as many antique views, vistas and rare maps from the period, and covers the first half of the journey from Birmingham to Liverpool or Manchester. The second volume continues as the Wildfire crosses the border of Staffordshire into Cheshire. The guides, published back in 1838, became must-haves for those who could take advantage of the ability to travel by rail over long distances. When the Grand Junction line opened, with the Wildfire engine making the inaugural run, the distance between Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool could be covered in a matter of hours rather than days, as before it opened when long distance travel was only then available to the privileged few. Railway travellers were keen to find out more about the land, the people and places that they could gaze out at from the safety of their railway carriage, and as some took advantage of the opportunity to explore recommended destinations along the route, the age of tourism arrived. Readers boarding the Wildfire at Curzon Street on the edges of the booming manufacturing town of Birmingham in 1838, the year of Queen Victoria's coronation, and join our contemporary commentators on a thought-provoking journey. Travelling out of Warwickshire along the tranquil, picturesque Tame valley, the route crosses the border into Staffordshire, and continues through the scarred and barren wastelands of the mining and manufacturing districts. Yet the journey also discovers many splendid gentlemen's seats of residence and stately houses along the way, allowing us to marvel at the ever-changing scenery as our journey unfolds across windswept Cannock Chase, up into northern Staffordshire and its districts famed for pottery. Along the way our commentators delve into the lives of the people who dwell in the many manufacturing and agricultural towns along the route, their lives changed forever by the rolling tide of industrialization rapidly sweeping the land. This is truly a living, spoken local history at the dawn of the Victorian age. The lines that made up the Grand Junction Railway now form the backbone of the West Coast Main Line. The first from the Railway Time Traveller's Guide series, this book provides the reader with an opportunity to retrace the journey made in 1838, sadly though not by steam. Wildfire through Staffordshire is not only a must-have for railway enthusiasts and local historians, but appeals to anybody interested in Britain's history and heritage. After completing the journey through Staffordshire aboard the Wildfire back in 1838, readers can re-visit the many places described in that early journey, as some now make up the famous modern day visitor attractions in Staffordshire. These are listed with visitor information in the last section although, sadly, many have disappeared in the mists of time.

Chartered in 1827 as the country's first railroad, the legendary Baltimore and Ohio played a unique role in the nation's great railroad drama and became the model for American railroading. John W. Garrett, who served as president of the B&O from 1858 to 1884, ranked among the great power brokers of the time. In this gripping and well-researched account, historian Kathleen Waters Sander tells the story of the B&O's beginning and its unprecedented plan to build a rail line from Baltimore over the Allegheny Mountains to the Ohio River, considered to be the most ambitious engineering feat of its time. The B&O's success ignited "railroad fever" and helped to catapult railroading to America's most influential industry in the nineteenth century. Taking the B&O helm during the railroads' expansive growth in the 1850s, Garrett soon turned his attention to the demands of the Civil War. Sander explains how, despite suspected Southern sympathies, Garrett became one of President Abraham Lincoln's most trusted confidantes and strategists, making the B&O available for transporting Northern troops and equipment to critical battles. The Confederates attacked the B&O 143 times, but could not put "Mr. Lincoln's Road" out of business. After the war, Garrett became one of the first of the famed Gilded Age tycoons, rising to unimagined power and wealth. Sander explores how-when he was not fighting fierce railroad wars with competitors-Garrett steered the B&O into highly successful entrepreneurial endeavors, quadrupling track mileage to reach important commercial markets, jumpstarting Baltimore's moribund postwar economy, and constructing lavish hotels in Western Maryland to open tourism in the region. Sander brings to life the brazen risk-taking, clashing of oversized egos, and opulent lifestyles of the Gilded Age tycoons in this richly illustrated portrait of one man's undaunted efforts to improve the B&O and advance its technology. Chronicling the epic technological transformations of the nineteenth century, from rudimentary commercial trade and primitive transportation westward to the railroads' indelible impact on the country and the economy, John W. Garrett and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is a vivid account of Garrett's twenty-six-year reign.

This new book is the third by Wolfgang Sawodny on German armored trains in World War II, and presents all new information not previously discussed in his first two highly successful volumes. The main emphasis here is on the operational history of German armored train units on the Russian front, and includes many previously unpublished photographs.

The British Railways Pilot Scheme' orders of 1955 included ten BTH and ten NBL Type 1 locomotives, these being introduced during 1957-61 for use in East London, and on the Great Eastern and London, Tilbury & Southend lines. The BTH fleet subsequently expanded to forty-four, as a consequence of their light axle-loading and the availability of spare manufacturing capacity which BR chose to exploit in their quest to eliminate steam traction. Further construction of these two classes ceased after the fifty-four units, with preference being given to the highly reliable English Electric product which by mid-1962 had proliferated to 128 examples. The NBL fleet survived until 1968, being withdrawn after ten years of indifferent performance. The BTH locomotives followed by 1971, although four lingered on as carriage pre-heating units. Dramatic reductions in goods traffic during the 1960s/70s particularly impacted local trip and transfer freight duties, the bread and butter' work for the Type 1s, and it was inevitable that the less successful classes were retired from traffic first. This book looks at the short history of these two classes, making extensive use of archive sources, combined with the primary observations of numerous enthusiasts. Previously unpublished information, covering the introduction, appearance design and performance issues of the locomotives, form a central focus, and, allocations, works histories, storage and disposals, liveries and detail differences are covered in the same level of detail as previous volumes in the Locomotive Portfolio series.

The perfect gift for every railway enthusiast. The history of Britain's railways is a long and fascinating one, filled with stories of grand endeavours, noted figures and record-breaking feats. Julian Holland brings together a unique miscellany of intriguing tales and engaging trivia - the perfect collection for every railway enthusiast. Stories range from Bulleid's 'Chinese Laundries', trainspotting trips in Wales and Scotland and Liverpool's 'Dockers' Umbrella' to railway artists and clergy, a railway-owned airline and railways that were never built. Find out about * The Royal Scot's 11,000-mile journey in the USA and Canada * A narrow gauge island railway in the middle of the Bristol Channel * How the London & South Western Railway saved the British Empire * Mallard's unbeaten world speed record of 1938 * How to fly by Great Western Railway from Cardiff to Plymouth * The 75-mile network of narrow gauge railways on the Isle of Skye * How another 4,500 miles of railway escaped closure by Dr Beeching All Aboard is a delightful miscellany for every railway enthusiast, filled with fascinating and obscure stories, facts and figures.

The 'Golden Valley Line' - is so called due to the descent from the summit of the line at Sapperton Tunnel to Gloucester being cut through a yellow/golden limestone ridge - between Swindon, on the Great Western main line and Standish Junction, on the Birmingham-Bristol main line. Opened from Gloucester Junction, immediately to the west of Swindon, to Cirencester on 31 May 1841, under the auspices of the Cheltenham & Great Western Union Railway Act of 1936, the extension to Gloucester, via Kemble (though without a station there initially) was completed on 12 May 1845. Laid to Brunel's 7ft 0 ins gauge, the line was bought by the Great Western Railway and grandly called the 'South Wales Main Line'. It was converted to standard gauge on 26 May 1872. What had now become the Cirencester branch from Kemble closed to passengers from 6 April 1964 and freight on 4 October the following year. A branch from Kemble to Tetbury was opened on 2 December 1889 - originally planned to extend to Nailsworth - and closed to passengers on the same date as the route to Cirencester, with freight going earlier this time, on 5 August 1963.The route has seen a wide variety of services, from 'main line' trains to London to the much more humble Railmotor services that ran for many years between Gloucester/Stonehouse-Chalford/Kemble. The latter ended on 2 November 1964, leaving the services to run Swindon-Gloucester as locals, with occasional through trains from/to London. In steam days it was home to the world famous 'Cheltenham Spa Express', giving the fastest journey to London. The 12-mile section from Swindon to Kemble was singled by BR to save costs but this has meant restrictions on traffic, with many services being negatively affected and preventing growth of patronage. To ease this situation and to prepare for the forthcoming electrification of the Great Western mainline, when a diversion will be required around the Severn Tunnel, the route is to be re-doubled by Network Rail over the period 2013/4. This volume, extending the compass to Gloucester, looks at both the old days, with comparisons with the present day scene and also features the doubling work, in conjunction with Network Rail. Men and machines at work give a variety of illustrations and the whole is a fascinating exposition of the transformation of this once sleepy by-way.

This is the definitive story of the men who built the railways the unknown Victorian labourers who blasted, tunnelled, drank and brawled their way across nineteenth-century England.

Preached at and plundered, sworn at and swindled, this anarchic elite endured perils and disasters, and carved out of the English countryside an industrial-age architecture unparalleled in grandeur and audacity since the building of the cathedrals.

Self-propelled carriages were a major innovation at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the GWR was quick to develop a large number of steam motor cars to link farms and scattered villages across the South West to the new branch lines. Their steam motor cars ran from 1903 to 1935, stopping during the war, and were so effective at making rural areas accessible they became victims of their own success. Wagons brought in to meet the high demand proved too heavy for the carriages and they struggled on hills. Soon the steam rail motor services were in decline. After its cancellation all ninety-nine steam carriages were eventually scrapped. Engineer Ken Gibbs reveals the unique GWR carriages, a window into early twentieth-century transport, and the modern replica he helped build, now the only way of viewing these charming historic vehicles.

Lancashire and Yorkshire led Britain and the world into the industrial revolution, yet were long cut off by the Pennine chain. The railway age finally brought the two counties together and ensured the continued growth of Manchester as Britain's second city. It was linked to Leeds and Sheffield by a series of heroic railway tunnels, three of which were successively the longest in the world when completed in the 1840s. Often taken for granted, this book portrays them as extraordinary achievements against seemingly insuperable odds that deserve the fullest recognition. These pages look not just at the tunnels and the men who created them but also at how lines built through them connected key stations either side of the Pennines. They step back further in history to show how canals paved the way for the railways and also look forward to the future with its brave talk of HS3 achieving journey times that seem unimaginable. There is a remarkable collection of illustrations ranging from period lithographs through to present-day photographs. The many varied themes in this book include: * The vision of George Stephenson - 'Father of Railways' * Navvies left to fend for themselves in huts thrown together with loose stones and thatch * Drunken riots following pay day * Death and chronic illness at Woodhead tunnel on top of the Pennines * Enginemen coming close to suffocation when working heavy freights through the tunnels * Early travellers who preferred to get off and walk rather than travel through a tunnel behind a 'steam monster' * Branwell Bronte, errant brother of the literary sisters, dismissed for constant carelessness at a Calder Valley station * The magnificent Huddersfield station - a stately home with trains * The Midland Railway with almost eight miles of tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester * Inferno in a tunnel when a derailed tanker train caught fire and temperatures reached 1,500 degrees C. * The superb new Woodhead tunnel with its electric services that closed to passengers after only 16 years

The name Flying Scotsman is renowned across the world, but the detailed story of the globally famous locomotive is often less well known. In this illustrated history, James S. Baldwin takes the reader on a railway journey through time, documenting the years of public and private ownership, from the Great Northern Railway in the early days, right through LNER and British Railways possession, to the tenure of Alan Pegler, Sir William McAlpine, Pete Waterman and beyond. With the engine having been acquired by the National Railway Museum in 2004, the future looks secure. Complete with stunning black-and-white and colour illustrations, this is the perfect package to allow Flying Scotsman enthusiasts, young and old, to get a real taste of the rich history of the 'most famous steam locomotive in the world'.

To assist the modeller, both experienced and beginners, Jeremy English presents his second instalment in this popular series continuing basically as before but with the additional emphasis on EMUs, signalling, sample layouts and lineside structures. As before, prototype plans are included as well as examples of some of the best Southern models and layouts of recent years. A wealth of photographs, in both colour and black and white, compliment what will be a 'must have' modelling title for the enthusiast.

In its more than 50 route miles the Central Line provides a wide variety of locations both in 'tube' and in the open air, and after more than a century of operation not surprisingly there are many 'past and present' contrasts. This title includes the preserved section now operated by the Epping Ongar railway.

Do you know what's under your feet? The London Underground was the very first underground railway - but it wasn't the first time Londoners had ventured below ground, nor would it be the last. People seem to be drawn to subterranean London: it hides unsightly (yet magnificent) sewers, protects its people from war, and hosts its politicians in times of crisis. But the underground can also be an underworld, and celebrated London historian Fiona Rule has tracked down the darker stories too - from the gangs that roamed below looking for easy prey, to an attempted murder-suicide on the platform of Charing Cross. Underneath London is another world; one with shadows of war, crime and triumph. London's Labyrinth is a book that no London aficionado should be without.

The accomplishments, and initiatives, both social and economic, of Edward Watkin are almost too many to relate. Though generally known for his large-scale railway projects, becoming chairman of nine different British railway companies as well as developing railways in Canada, the USA, Greece, India and the Belgian Congo, he was also responsible for a stream of remarkable projects in the nineteenth century which helped shape people's lives inside and outside Britain. As well as holding senior positions with the London and North Western Railway, the Worcester and Hereford Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway, Watkin became president of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. He was also director of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railways, as well as the Athens-Piraeus Railway. Watkin was also the driving force in the creation of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's 'London Extension' - the Great Central Main Line down to Marylebone in London. This, though, was only one part of his great ambition to have a high-speed rail link from Manchester to Paris and ultimately to India. This, of course, involved the construction of a Channel tunnel. Work on this began on both sides of the Channel in 1880 but had to be abandoned due to the fear of invasion from the Continent. He also purchased an area of Wembley Park, serviced by an extension of his Metropolitan Railway. He developed the park into a pleasure and events destination for urban Londoners, which later became the site of Wembley Stadium. It was also the site of another of Watkin's enterprises, the 'Great Tower in London' which was designed to be higher than the Eiffel Tower but was never completed. Little, though, is known about Watkin's personal life, which is explored here through the surviving diaries he kept. The author, who is the chair of The Watkin Society, which aims to promote Watkin's life and achievements, has delved into the mind of one of the nineteenth century's outstanding individuals.

This stunning book is a glorious celebration of all things train and track! Packed with stunning photography, The Train Book catalogues the development of trains from early steam to diesel engines and electric locomotives, explores in detail iconic trains such as the Palace on Wheels and the Orient Express, and chronicles the social, political, and cultural backdrop against which railways were built the world over. Profiling the best-loved railways and rail journeys of all time - from the Union-Pacific Railroad to the Trans-Siberian Railway - and the pioneers of train and track - from "Father of the Railways" George Stephenson to engineering legend Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Métro-maestro Fulgence Bienvenüe, The Train Book has something for every train enthusiast to love! The Train Book further features: - A truly international view of trains through time, from English steam to Japanese electric. - Tells the stories of key innovators, designers, and engineers responsible for advancing rail travel. - Double-page images capture the beauty of the railways and the challenges faced by the people who built them. A must-have gift book for anyone with an interest in trains, locomotives, and the history of the railway, this one-stop train guide is sure to delight.

There is a widely held belief that Thomas Cook invented the railway excursion. In fact the railway excursion is almost as old as the railway itself, dating back to the 1830s, when hordes of people from one town would descend on another for a 'cheap trip'. Susan Major has carried out much in-depth research for this book, drawing on contemporary Victorian newspapers, and discovered that in fact Cook played a very minor role, mainly in encouraging middle-class people to go on more expensive excursions. Her book fills an important gap in railway history. It explores for the first time how the vast majority of ordinary working people in Britain in the middle of the nineteenth century were able to travel cheaply for leisure over long distances, in huge crowds, and return home. This was a stunning experience for the excursionists and caused great shocks to observers at the time. These 'trippers' had to overcome many obstacles, particularly from the Church of England and the non-conformist movement, who were affronted by the idea of people enjoying themselves on a Sunday, their only day away from work.The book takes the story of the early railway excursions from the 1840s to the 1860s, a dramatic period of railway and social change in British history. It looks at how these excursions were shaped and the experiences of working class travellers during this period, demolishing a number of cliches and myths endlessly reproduced in traditional railway histories. While Michael Portillo paints a picture of travellers sitting tidily in their railway carriages, consulting their Bradshaws, many working class excursionists on their trips were hanging on to the roof of a crowded carriage, endangering their lives, or enduring hours of travel in an open wagon in heavy rain.

Inspired by the hit board game that has sold over 12 million copies, travel the world from the comfort of your home with the Ticket to Ride Puzzle Book. Based on the award-winning board game, this book is packed full of 100 original, colourful and exciting challenges for puzzlers and board-game enthusiasts alike. It's the year 1900, and you are a young tourist setting off on a global rail journey. Voyaging from city to city across countries and continents, you meet an entertaining set of characters who provide you with a perplexing set of brainteasers, from logic problems and train track puzzles to riddles and linguistic conundrums. Climb aboard and ride across the world in 100 globe-trotting puzzles!

For British Rail, the 1970s was a time of contrasts, when bad jokes about sandwiches and pork pies often belied real achievements, like increasing computerisation and the arrival of the high-speed Inter-City 125s. But while television advertisements told of an 'Age of the Train', Monday morning misery continued for many, the commuter experience steadily worsening as rolling stock aged and grew ever more uncomfortable. Even when BR launched new electrification schemes and new suburban trains in the 1980s, focus still fell on the problems that beset the Advanced Passenger Train, whose ignominious end came under full media glare. In British Railways in the 1970s and '80s, Greg Morse guides us through a world of Traveller's Fare, concrete concourses and peak-capped porters, a difficult period that began with the aftershock of Beeching but ended with BR becoming the first nationalised passenger network in the world to make a profit.