For many the GWR was synonymous with holidays by the sea in the West Country, but it was built to serve as a fast railway line to London, especially for the merchants and financiers of Bristol. Its operations stretched as far as Merseyside, it provided most services in Wales, and it was the main line to Cardiff, Bristol, Cornwall and Birmingham. This book, a classic first published in 2006, reveals the equipment, stations, network, shipping and air services, bus operations including Western National, and overall reach and history of the GWR. Forming part of a series, along with The LMS Handbook, The LNER Handbook and The Southern Railway Handbook, this new edition provides an authoritative and highly detailed reference of information about the GWR.

From the Edwardian golden age of steam to the present, the railway has captured the hearts and imaginations of the British people like no other mode of travel. In wartime and peace, along major routes and minor, steam, diesel and electric trains have carried commuters to work, families to holiday destinations and provided the means to myriad other adventures - the train a constant presence in an ever-changing way of life. A Century of Railway Travel presents one hundred years of the British passenger's story, using striking full-page imagery with commentary from bestselling author Paul Atterbury. From the open platforms of provincial stations before the First World War to the modern throngs at Waterloo on Derby Day, and from compartments that separated rich from poor and male from female, to the rise to dominance of modern standard class, this book depicts the rich tapestry of progress and heritage that has been the last century of British train travel. The coloured card ticket in your hand, the rough feel of the upholstered seats, and the call of the whistle, the scenery begins to move across the carriage windows of one of Britain's great steam-trains: with full-page illustrations and text alive with insight and nostalgia, this is a passenger's history of train travel in the last century.

For almost 50 years, High Speed Trains (HSTs) have been the mainstay for express services for many operators in the UK. While they were used extensively by British Rail - even being dubbed the saviour of British Rail' - these trains have been used by other operators as well, including East Coast, Midland Mainline, and Virgin CrossCountry. However, following their mass withdrawal in 2018-19, when the Hitachi bi-mode units came on the scene, many of the HSTs were put into storage, or, sadly, scrapped altogether. Fortunately, not everyone followed suit. Some operators have been reconsidering their potential in recent times. Colas Rail acquired some to use as test trains operated for Network Rail, and Locomotive Services Ltd have two dedicated charter sets that are used throughout the UK. Illustrated with over 230 images, this book follows on from HSTs: The Western Region. It shows HSTs over the past 20-30 years, in numerous UK locations, highlighting why they have served so long and why they should be saved.

The world's most scenic rail ride. A journey on Canada's transcontinental railroad ranks as one of the greatest rail experiences in the world. Stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the lines span 3974 miles, taking in not only several of North America's finest cities but also some of the most dramatic scenery on earth, including the spectacular Rocky Mountains. * Fully revised 6th edition - entirely re-researched. * Mile-by-mile route guide - what to see along the route, with 32 rail route maps. * Rail travel for all budgets - information from the cheapest rail tickets with shoestring accommodation in the cities along the route to the most luxurious guided tours. * City guides and maps - the best sights, recommended hotels and restaurants in 10 major stops along the lines: Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Jasper, Calgary, Churchill and Vancouver. * Railway history - the rail link that created modern Canada.

There is always a sense of adventure when going on a railway journey. Whether it is aboard the Orient Express from London to Istanbul, or travelling the Transcontinental railroad through the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific coast, or riding the Serra Verde Express through the Brazilian rainforest, Rail Journeys takes the reader on a journey through some of the most unusual, romantic and remarkable landscapes in the world. Find out about the Coast Starlight, which carries passengers from Los Angeles along the Pacific coast to Seattle and all points in between; or the 7,000 kilometre Trans-Siberian, crossing the entirety of Mongolia and Russia from Beijing to Moscow; or 'El Chepe', the Mexican Copper Canyon railway, a line which took 90 years to build and negotiates 87 tunnels, 36 bridges and sweeping hairpin bends as it climbs from sea level to the rim-top views it offers at 2,400m; or enjoy the engineering excellence of the Konkan Railway in India, connecting Mumbai with the port of Mangalore via some 2,000 bridges and 90 tunnels; or experience the Shinkansen 'Bullet Train' as it races at speeds of more than 300 km/h between Tokyo and Kyoto, passing the iconic Mount Fuji on the way. With 210 outstanding colour photographs, Rail Journeys takes the reader to some of the most historic, spectacular and remotest locations in the world, places where trains still offer romantic and astounding experiences of rail travel at its best.

This new title from the authors of A World of Rail - John Legg and Ian Peaty - takes us on a fascinating tour of Britain's rail-borne transport sytem, or rather systems, as it covers a wide variety of locations and gauges. The variety of rolling stock is a feature including of both passenger and freight vehcles. Locations range from London's Underground to the Bass Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent and from Ford's Dagenham plant to the whisky distilleries of Scotland. This is a book that takes the reader off the beaten track, over many years, to provide a wide variety of images from all sorts of unusual and rarely seen passenger and freight sevices the length and breadth of the country. Images from the earliest days of railways right up to the modern day scene are accompanied by informative text and detailed captions. This is a book that is sure to provide variety.

Between 1900 and 1950, Americans built the most powerful steam locomotives of all time-enormous engines that powered a colossal industry. They were deceptively simple machines, yet, the more their technology was studied, the more obscure it became. Despite immense and sustained engineering efforts, steam locomotives remained grossly inefficient in their use of increasingly costly fuel and labor. In the end, they baffled their masters and, as soon as diesel-electric technology provided an alternative, steam locomotives disappeared from American railroads. Drawing on the work of eminent engineers and railroad managers of the day, this lavishly illustrated history chronicles the challenges, triumphs and failures of American steam locomotive development and operation.

This new book takes up the story where Volume 1 left off. In the intervening years much hard work has seen the line return to the Snowdonia National Park as far as Rhyd Ddu, at the very foot of Snowdon, providing a 13-mile trip through magnificent scenery that is surely unsurpassed on any narrow-gauge railway in the UK.

Built in the turn of the twentieth century, the Hejaz Railway was initially mocked in Europe as a wildly improbable scheme. Still used partially in Syria and Israel, the railway was constructed at colossal cost and despite countless obstacles, it received great enthusiasm across the Muslim world. This book provides many details about the construction of this project based on British documents from a technical and cultural point of view.

From Britain's most popular railway historian, a concise, authoritative and fast-paced telling of how the railways changed the world. The arrival of the railways in the first half of the nineteenth century and their subsequent spread across every one of the world's continents acted as a spur for economic growth and social change on an extraordinary scale. The 'iron road' stimulated innovation in engineering and architecture, enabled people and goods to move around the world more quickly than ever before, and played a critical role in warfare as well as in the social and economic spheres. Christian Wolmar describes the emergence of modern railways in both Britain and the USA in the 1830s, and elsewhere in the following decade. He charts the surge in railway investment plans in Britain in the early 1840s and the ensuing 'railway mania' (which created the backbone of today's railway network), and the unstoppable spread of the railways across Europe, America and Asia. Above all, he assesses the global impact of a technology that, arguably, had the most transformative impact on human society of any before the coming of the Internet, and which, as it approaches two centuries of existence, continues to play a key role in human society in the twenty-first century. 'A lucid and engaging account of the far-reaching effects that trains have had upon society' The Railway & Canal Historical Society

Explore Britain's remaining historic lines with railway expert Julian Holland. The essential guide to exploring Britain's last remaining historic lines, Britain's Heritage Railways is ideal for anyone planning or looking for a nostalgic railway trip. From bestselling railway author Julian Holland. More than 100 locations, the majority steam operated, featured all over Britain. Highly illustrated with maps and old and new photographs. Historic lines include; * Bodmin & Wenford Railway - two rural branch lines with a rich industrial history tucked away in Cornwall * West Somerset Railway - the longest heritage railway in England with views of the Quantock Hills and the sea * Bluebell Railway - a Victorian steam railway deep in rural Mid Sussex * North Norfolk Railway - a delightful journey through heathland with views of the sea * Dean Forest Railway - with a rich industrial history this heritage railway takes passengers into the ancient Forest of Dean * Ffestiniog Railway - a steam operated Victorian narrow gauge slate railway clinging to steep hillsides * Wensleydale Railway - a long heritage railway in the unspoilt Yorkshire Dales * Speyside Railway - a Highland line with views of the Cairngorm Mountains

The author's second volume about the Great Western's classic express locomotives covers their final six years in British Railways service. In 1960 the Castles, many now modernised with double chimneys and 4-row superheaters, were still in charge of most of the Western Region's expresses, but by the summer of 1963 their regular express work was limited to the London - Worcester route. Their declining numbers in the last couple of years covered special summer and relief trains, parcels and freight work, deputising for failed or unavailable diesels and a flurry of excursions and railtours where their prowess could still be demonstrated. The author worked and lived alongside them in these years and the book includes much of his own personal experience on the footplate, on their trains and on shed. The book recaps briefly their first 25 years and covers their history, operation and performance in their final years and is copiously illustrated including over 100 colour photographs.

During the mid-19th Century, thousands of unknown workers from so many countries toiled incessantly and under great danger during the construction of the railroad that joined the Atlantic city of Colon with the Pacific city of Panama, making it the world's first transcontinental railway. This is its story. Bilingual text in Spanish and English. Al mediados del siglo 19, miles de trabajadores inc gnitos de tantos pa ses trabajaron sin descanso y bajo gran peligro durante la construcci n del ferrocarril que uni la ciudad caribe a de Col n con la ciudad de Panam en el pac fico, convirti ndolo en el primer ferrocarril transcontinental del mundo. Esta es su historia. Texto biling e en espa ol e ingl s.

NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE WORLD is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad - the investors who risked their businesses and money; the enlightened politicians who understood its importance; the engineers and surveyors who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives; and the Irish and Chinese immigrants, the defeated Confederate soldiers, and the other labourers who did the backbreaking and dangerous work on the tracks. The US government pitted two companies - the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads - against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. Locomotives, rails and spikes were shipped from the East through Panama or around South America to the West, or lugged across the country to the Plains. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise, with its huge expenditure of brainpower, muscle and sweat, comes vibrantly to life.

The author has been a railway modeller for many years and he is also a trained draughtsman. As detailed drawings of current wagons are difficult to obtain he decided to produce a series of his own drawings of modern British railway wagons (back as far as the 1980s). The book contains approximately 50 collections of drawings in 4mm/ft scale with enlarged detail at 8mm/ft or scaled as appropriate. Each wagon is shown in three elevations, normally over two pages, most accompanied by a colour detail photographs of each particular wagon. There is also an appendix of wagon loads to fit the drawings, which includes Hapag/Lloyd containers, RMC 'Inbulk' Tank, Charter Rail lorry for KOA wagon and Scorpion light tank for KFA wagon. Photographs accompany about half the wagons shown in the appendix.

Is any disaster really forgotten? It is never forgotten by the survivors who lived through the trauma. It is never forgotten by the emergency services who tried to save the day. It is never forgotten by the relatives of those who never came home. Britain's Lost Tragedies Uncovered is a look at the tragedies and disasters that may not have stayed in public memory, but are no less terrible than their more famous counterparts. From a late-nineteenth-century family massacre in London to two separate fatal crashes at Dibbles Bridge in Yorkshire, and the worst-ever aviation show crash in post-war Farnborough to the horrifying Barnsley Public Hall disaster - here are twenty-three accounts of true devastation and stunning bravery. They are tales that deserve to be remembered.