The steam locomotive was a British invention and even today, the world speed record for steam remains with a British locomotive, Mallard. Steam's first significant contribution to British industry was through powering pumping engines for mines. When steam was applied to the railways, the 'railway age' began. The steam locomotive went through several distinct phases during its long life, which came to an end on regular service in the late 1960s. The early phase was followed by the trend for large single driving wheels, then compound locomotives with connected driving wheels once steel became strong enough for the connecting rods. Further developments included tank engines that could run equally well forwards and backwards; the 4-6-0 and 4-6-2 expresses; the passion for speed records and streamlining; and the standardisation years of British Railways. This insightful, fully illustrated story book follows the history of the steam locomotive and will delight all those interested in the steam age.

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.

Delves deep into the underbelly of the NYC subway system to reveal the tunnels and stations that might have been.
Robert A. Van Wyck, mayor of the greater city of New York, broke ground for the first subway line by City Hall on March 24, 1900. It took four years, six months, and twenty-three days to build the line from City Hall to West 145th Street in Harlem. Things rarely went that quickly ever again. TheRoutes Not Taken explores the often dramatic stories behind the unbuilt or unfinished subway lines, shedding light on a significant part of New York City's history that has been almost completely ignored until now.
Home to one of the world's largest subway systems, New York City made constant efforts to expand its underground labyrinth, efforts that were often met with unexpected obstacles: financial shortfalls, clashing agendas of mayors and borough presidents, battles with local community groups, and much more. After discovering a copy of the 1929 subway expansion map, author Joseph Raskin began his own investigation into the city's underbelly. Using research from libraries, historical societies, and transit agencies throughout the New York metropolitan area, Raskin provides a fascinating history of the Big Apple's unfinished business that until now has been only tantalizing stories retold by public-transit experts.
The Routes Not Taken sheds light on the tunnels and stations that were completed for lines that were never fulfilled: the efforts to expand the Hudson tubes into a fullfledged subway; the Flushing line, and why it never made it past Flushing; a platform underneath Brooklyn's Nevins Street station that has remained unused for more than a century; and the 2nd Avenue line long the symbol of dashed dreams deferred countless times since the original plans were presented in 1929. Raskin also reveals the figures and personalities involved, including why Fiorello LaGuardia could not grasp the importance of subway lines and why Robert Moses found them to be old and boring. By focusing on the unbuilt lines, Raskin illustrates how the existing subway system is actually a Herculean feat of countless political compromises.
Filled with illustrations of the extravagant expansion plans, The Routes Not Taken provides an enduring contribution to the transportation history of New York City.

Following the success of the author's two volume set on 'The Rhymney Railway', the natural follow on was to explore the history of the Taff Vale railway. Such has been the depth of the author's research this project has resulted in a need for three copiously illustrated volumes.

Gary Morecambe writes: `David J. Hindle is an author and social historian with a particular interest in the genre of music hall and the history of the railways. In this, his latest book, he flags up parallels to be drawn between the origins of railways and music hall. This is an original concept, notwithstanding that long before the age of the automobile, it was the railways that conveyed audiences and performers to the music halls that evolved to become variety theatres. I look no further than my father's experiences to illustrate the point: `A second class train ride between Birmingham and Coventry in 1940 is not the most obvious starting point for the best loved double act in British comedy history. World War Two was well underway in 1940, but not for Morecambe and Wise. Fourteen year old Eric Bartholomew and his best friend Ernie Wiseman were travelling that day with my paternal grandmother, Eric's mum and mentor, Sadie Bartholomew. The star-struck teenagers had been performing in a touring youth theatre as solo acts. As usual the boys were over-excited after the show, and going through their Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy impressions. Sadie, who was trying to sleep, made a suggestion that would change showbiz history for ever. `Why don't you two stop fooling around and put your minds to something else. Why not form a double act of your own?.' For over twenty years Morecambe and Wise learned their craft in Britain's variety theatres whilst travelling extensively throughout the country. When variety effectively died and many theatres went permanently dark in the 1950/60s, they switched to television spectaculars, which were enjoyed by millions throughout the world. The profusely illustrated narrative will offer something more than mere reading enjoyment. David's enthusiasm and expertise on music hall history is unbounded, and, in railway nomenclature, I give this publication the green light.'

This book, to published in two parts, is dedicated to the memories of all those people who once worked for the Great Western Railway in South Wales, at Pontypool Road loco depot, the Eastern Valley and the Vale of Neath railway, as well as to those people who worked in the industries once served by the railway in those locations. In 2016, the UK coal mining industry is extinct, and the future of the steel industry is in doubt. This book serves as a reminder to future generations as to what a fantastic place the South Wales valleys once were for heavy industry and transport infrastructure, and also as a tribute to the pioneering 19th century railway builders. Local railway enthusiast Phil Williams, is a contract structural engineer in the aerospace industry. His father's uncle, Harry Miles, was a Swindon trained locomotive fitter at Pontypool Road in the 1930s. His family have interesting links to the mining industry. His great grandfather was Thomas Williams, the Colliery Engineer at Tirpentwys Colliery from before 1902 up to 1912; and then at Crumlin Valley Colliery Hafodrynys and the Glyn Pits, from 1915 until he died in 1925 aged 76.His father's great grandfather, Joseph Harper, was one of the 1890 Llanerch Colliery disaster rescue team; he worked at the British Top Pits. His father's uncle, Williams Harper was the foreman of the wagon shop at the Big Arch Talywain.

Discover the worldfamous Chicago "L"--in all its grit and glory. The thundering "L" is one of Chicago's most enduring icons. Operating 247 since 1892, it is not only an antique but a working antique. More than 10 billion people have ridden the "L," which now carries half a million people a day over 222 miles of track. The heavy, rumbling "L" has a light side too. It is sought out by tourists, featured in major motion pictures, enjoyed by wideeyed kids, photographed by admirers, and studied by historians. Meanwhile, both the Smithsonian Institution and the Chicago History Museum have recently enshrined Chicago "L" cars as the showpiece of major permanent exhibits. The Chicago "L" shows how the early "L" lines helped to build Chicago as well as how today's "L" helps to revitalize neighborhoods and tie the city together. Over the past 100 years, the "L" has survived numerous attempts to tear it down. Today its future is secure. New services are being added and new lines planned. This educating and entertaining book brings the tenacious "L" to life.

For countless holiday-makers, a trip to the seaside resorts of the West Country used to mean travelling on the network of lines operated by the Great Western and the London and South Western railways. Before the reshaping of British Railways following the Beeching Report in 1963, a wide variety of trains operated in Devon. This book chronicles these trains during a period of dramatic change, as lines were closed down, steam traction was phased out and the thundering express and the hard-working tank disappeared. A wealth of these lost images can be found within this evocative collection of over 200 photographs. Comprising the work of both amateurs and professionals, the book also reveals glimpses of the stations, the people who worked on the lines, and of the high days and disasters. Brought together here as a collection, they pay homage to the great days of steam.

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.

Especially for those who have obtained the recent facsimile copy of George Bradshaw's tourist's guide book. This detailed and attractive map clearly shows the many railways that had been built at the height of "Railway Mania" along with hundreds of railway stations throughout Great Britain and Ireland, allowing the enthusiast to follow the routes from a bygone age. Originally published in 1852 by Bradshaw and Blacklock it has now been art worked and re-mastered. George Bradshaw's Railway Map of Great Britain and Ireland is a visual record of when train travel was at its height - when railways were really golden - and his guides burst with pride about them. George Bradshaw's map also illustrates the eight "Environs" plans of London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dublin. The paper stock used in this series of historic mapping is of a high quality developed especially for the printing of detailed mapping. The 90 gsm "Progeo" paper was specially developed as a map paper. It has high opacity to help reduce show through and a cross grain giving it greater durability as the map is being folded.

For almost a century, from its inception in the years immediately after World War I, the Aerofilms company recorded the changing face of England from the air. At the start of the era, the railway was still the predominant form of transport, with a network of main, secondary and branch lines that stretched to virtually every corner of the realm. As the 20th century progressed, however, this dominance declined as the private motorcar and the lorry increasingly became the preferred mode of transport. The early railway builders - such as the London & Birmingham - had invested much in creating impressive stations for this new and revolutionary form of transport and, during the 19th century, many of the country's leading architects undertook commissions on behalf of the burgeoning railway industry. After World War II, however, many of these buildings were were swept away. The Aerofilms collection provides a unique vantage point to explore the country's railway heritage. It is only from the air that it is possible to appreciate fully how much the railway came to dominate the landscape; even in relatively small country towns, the railway station with its platforms and goods yard was significant. Add to this the construction of tunnels and viaducts, and the railway can be said to have shaped much of the landscape of modern England. Drawing upon some 150 images from the collection, Peter Waller explores various aspects of England's unique railway heritage: from the major stations in cities like Birmingham to the humble goods yard and signal box.

The Second World War made the greatest demands on the German Reichsbahn (national railway). Year after year, great quantities of war materiel were transported - and almost always delivered. At times the trains rolled over nearly the entire continent of Europe. This heavily illustrated book documents the everyday life along the German rail lines on many war fronts. This is the first book of its kind in English for both the railroad fan as well as the military historian.

Great Railway Journeys: London to Oxford and London to Cambridge is the fourth in Roger Mason's Great Railway Journeys series. It is a fascinating record of things that can be seen from trains running from London to the two great university cities. The London to Oxford line includes Brunel's wonderful bridge over the Thames at Maidenhead and the Didcot Railway Centre, which is a living museum of the Great Western Railway. Included here is the story of how the author of a world famous book left the manuscript in a cafe at Reading Station. He had not kept a copy so he went home and wrote it again. The London to Cambridge line includes Mountfitchet Castle, a fabulous copy of the one that stood on the site shortly after the reign of William the Conqueror. There is also the Eleanor Cross at Waltham Cross, erected by Edward I in the 1290s as a tribute to his late wife, Eleanor of Castile.

On 22 May 1934 a zenith of locomotive construction in the UK was reached when an enormous new locomotive entered traffic for the London & North Eastern Railway Company. The impressive engine was P2 Class no. 2001 Cock o' the North and it was painstakingly erected to the designs of eminent locomotive engineer H.N. Gresley (later Sir) at the company's sprawling Doncaster Works.Cock o' the North was equipped with number of new and experimental features and this created quite a stir in the highly critical railway world and with the wider general public. These features included; Kylala-Chapelon (Kylchap) double blastpipe and chimney, Lentz poppet valves and rotary cam valve gear, A.C.F.I feedwater heater, V-shaped cab front, streamlined steam passages and a 50 sq. ft firebox grate area. No. 2001 also had a 2-8-2 or 'Mikado' wheel arrangement and, while it was not the first engine in Britain to have such configuration (the Gresley P1 Class locomotives of 1925 were the pioneers), Cock o' the North was the first engine intended for use on express passenger traffic to be built as a 'Mikado'.This book is the first one to feature the entire history of Cock o' the North as a single subject.With detailed research and a remarkable selection of photographs it examines and illustrates many aspects of the locomotive including: the name derivation, construction, trial runs, trial tests, the controversial rebuilding by Gresley's successor, Edward Thompson, the involvement in the Balby Bridge crash, and final withdrawal from service.Locomotive developments at home and abroad during the first half of the 20th century are also chartered as well as Nigel Gresley's rise from Great Northern Railway Company Locomotive Superintendent to LNER Chief Mechanical Engineer. Having understood Gresley's motivation behind building the locomotive, readers are then armed with enough information to ask themselves whether his bold experiment of building the largest steam passenger locomotive Britain has ever seen was a success and achieved the intentions of its creator.

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.

In 1957 the Western Region of BR identified a need for 400 Type 1 diesel locomotives for short-haul freight duties but it was 1964 before the first was introduced. General-purpose Type 1s were being delivered elsewhere but WR management regarded these as too expensive for their requirements. After completion of design work on the Western' locomotives, Swindon turned to creating a cheap no-frills' Type 1\. At 65% of the cost of the Bo-Bo alternative, the Swindon 0-6-0 represented a better fit' for the trip-freight niche. Since 1957 the privatised road-haulage industry had decimated BR's wagon-load sector; whilst the 1962 Transport Act released BR from its financially-debilitating public-service obligations, the damage had been done, and the 1963 Beeching Plan focused on closing unprofitable routes and associated services. By 1963 the original requirement for 400 Type 1s had been massively reduced. Fifty-six locomotives were constructed in 1964/65\. Continuing traffic losses resulted in the whole class becoming redundant by 1969\. Fortuitously, a demand for high-powered diesels on the larger industrial railway systems saw the bulk of the locomotives finding useful employment for a further twenty years. This book covers the life of these locomotives on British Railways; a companion volume will provide an extensive appraisal of "Their Life in Industry" for the forty-eight locomotives which made the successful transition after withdrawal from BR

Widely known as England's most scenic line, the enduring Settle & Carlisle Railway was built by the Midland between 1869 and 1876, as part of its quest to forge its own, independent route to Scotland. It is, uniquely for a railway in the UK, a Conservation Area in its own right - viaducts, tunnels, bridges, stations, trackside structures and railway workers' cottages. By walking all or parts of the route from Settle to Carlisle, you get the chance to get up close to the railway's magnificent architecture - but also to see the lonely and lofty fells, and stunning scenery from the Dales through the Pennines to the limestone pavements of Westmorland and the green Eden Valley. In the company of this knowledgeable guide, you'll also discover centuries' worth of local history and traditions: Roman remains, medieval castles, and the Romany who still meet at the annual Appleby Horse Fair gathering.