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Books > Sport & Leisure > Transport: general interest > Trains & railways: general interest
One of the most evocative reminders of Victorian ingenuity at the British seaside is the much-loved cliff lift. This simple method of transporting people up and down the cliff side has been a feature of our coast, and a few inland towns, for over 150 years and has recently undergone a renaissance at places as varied as the National Coal Mining Museum, Legoland and the Centre for Alternative Technology. The cliff lift, otherwise termed the cliff railway or tramway, is also known as a funicular railway. The word 'funicular' is defined as 'of rope or tension', in other words a cable-hauled railway or tramway. The lifts were directly descended from cable-hauled railways, prevalent in mines and quarries, but also early passenger lines, where an engine or winding gear hauled loads up steep slopes. The term 'cliff lift' also generally encompasses the elevator-type lifts that were erected at some resorts. This book illustrates, mainly in colour, all the principal cliff lifts and railways that have been built in the British Isles, along with associated cable tramways, since their inception in the Victorian age. In addition to featuring all the surviving lifts, this book includes others which are long gone, and serves as a fine record of these charming and unique structures.
It was in London in 1863 that the world's first metro was opened - the Metropolitan Railway. Built initially to overcome severe transport problems arising from London's huge growth in wealth and population, over the next 40 years it extended far beyond London's boundaries into the countryside of Middlesex, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. Generating income from house-building on land along the railway, the 'Met' - as it became known - fostered and developed the idea of an affordable home out of the city in lovely garden suburbs, with a fast train journey to work in London. It was the start of semidetached suburbanisation and was known as Metro-land. This new history examines how the Metropolitan Railway and the development of Metro-land went hand-in-hand until it was subsumed into the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933 and then nationalised in 1948. Packed with a wealth of detail, photographs, illustrations and contemporary advertising, it is above all revelatory to see how much has changed in social and transport terms since the 1930s, not least the price of a house!
The aim of this series is to appeal to readers of all ages, perhaps for different reasons...In this volume: We travel back to the year 1980...Zimbabwe gains Independence Seige at the Iranian Embassy Morris Ital launched Sixpence withdrawn Major fire at Alexandra Palace 'The ladies not for turning' speach Michael Foot elected Labour Leader John Lennon shot in New York For the younger reader within this series there are wonderful pictures of trains, real trains. There will, for example, be tank engines, steam engines, electric trains and multiple units and many more varieties besides! Some will be recognised from train sets, model railways and books, while others will be seen for the first time. For the older reader the books are designed to build into a collection placing the railway in the context of key events thus providing an historical perspective of travel in times past. For those old enough to remember the years depicted, the series will, we hope, provide reminders for many of school days, time perhaps spent train-spotting, shed bashing and generally gricing!
The second volume in the history of the Union Pacific begins after the financial panic of 1893, one of the worst depressions Americans had yet experienced, which pushed the railroad into bankruptcy. Maury Klein examines the complex challenges faced by the Union Pacific in the new century--the expanding role of government and its restrictive regulations, the growth of labor unions, the devastating effects of two world wars, and the growing competition from new modes of transportation--and how, under the innovative and influential leadership of Edward H. Harriman, the Union Pacific again played the role of industrial pioneer. Union Pacific has remained one of the strongest railroads in the country, surviving the eras of government regulation and the corporate mergers of the past twenty-five years. Insightful, definitive in scope, rich in colorful anecdotes and superb characterizations, Union Pacific is a fascinating saga not only of a particular railroad but also about how that industry transformed America. Maury Klein is professor of history at the University of Rhode Island. He is the author of several books, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Life and Legend of Jay Gould.
Gripping forensic tales explain how and why trains crash. Trains are massive-with some weighing 15,000 tons or more. When these metal monsters collide or go off the rails, their destructive power becomes clear. In this book, George Bibel presents riveting tales of trains gone wrong, the detective work of finding out why, and the safety improvements that were born of tragedy. Train Wreck details numerous crashes, including 17 in which more than 200 people were killed. Readers follow investigators as they sift through the rubble and work with computerized event recorders to figure out what happened. Using a mix of eyewitness accounts and scientific explanations, Bibel draws us into a world of forensics and human drama. Train Wreck is a fascinating exploration of * runaway trains * bearing failures * metal fatigue * crash testing * collision dynamics * bad rails
A history of the United States' systematic expulsion of "undesirables" and immigrants, told through the lives of the passengers who travelled from around the world, only to be locked up and forced out aboard America's first deportation trains. The United States, celebrated as a nation of immigrants and the land of the free, has developed the most extensive system of imprisonment and deportation that the world has ever known. The Deportation Express is the first history of American deportation trains: a network of prison railroad cars repurposed by the Immigration Bureau to link jails, hospitals, asylums, and workhouses across the country and allow forced removal with terrifying efficiency. With this book, historian Ethan Blue uncovers the origins of the deportation train and finds the roots of the current moment, as immigrant restriction and mass deportation once again play critical and troubling roles in contemporary politics and legislation. A century ago, deportation trains made constant circuits around the nation, gathering so-called "undesirable aliens"-migrants disdained for their poverty, political radicalism, criminal conviction, or mental illness-and conveyed them to ports for exile overseas. Previous deportation procedures had been violent, expensive, and relatively ad hoc, but the railroad industrialized the expulsion of the undesirable. Trains provided a powerful technology to divide "citizens" from "aliens" and displace people in unprecedented numbers. Drawing on the lives of migrants and the agents who expelled them, The Deportation Express is history told from aboard a deportation train. By following the lives of selected individuals caught within the deportation regime, this book dramatically reveals how the forces of state exclusion accompanied epic immigration in early twentieth-century America. These are the stories of people who traveled from around the globe, only to be locked up and cast out, deported through systems that bound the United States together, and in turn, pulled the world apart. Their journey would be followed by millions more in the years to come.
The second part of John Stretton's sixty trainspotting years features his forays into the world of railways and other areas of interest during the period 1985 to 2015.By now a very profficient photographer John's submissions to the railway press coupled with his increasing output of books for both Silver Link and Past & Present publishing saw John visiting many new and past locations in the pursuit of all things railways. The first volume covering the first 30 years sold out within a month of publication and a reprint is already under consideration.
The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings explores the life and influential work of Dr. Philip R. "Phil" Hastings (1923–1987). Along with his contemporaries, Hastings changed the way we look at the North American railroad. Influenced by the photojournalistic movement that developed during their childhoods, these visionaries expanded their work from traditional locomotive roster and action shots into a holistic view of the railroad environment. Collated by Tony Reevy, The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings features 140 full-page, black-and-white photographs from throughout Hasting's career and features an introduction that explores Hastings's life and work, including his relationships with noted author and editor David P. Morgan and photographer Jim Shaughnessy. The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings represents a major contribution to historical record of the life and work of this remarkable photographer, whose images shaped how we perceive and experience railroads throughout North America.
Arthur Henry Peppercorn, OBE (29 January 1889 - 3 March 1951) was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Railway. Peppercorn finished several projects which were started by his predecessor Edward Thompson, but most popular were his LNER Peppercorn Class A1 and the LNER Peppercorn Class A2 . These were known as some of the best British steam locomotives ever in service. Upon nationalisation and the foundation of British Railways, he continued in essentially the same job, now titled "Chief Mechanical Engineer, Eastern and North Eastern Regions"; he retired at the end of 1949, two years after nationalisation. Only one of his famous Pacific locomotives, a LNER Peppercorn Class A2, 60532 Blue Peter, was preserved, but none of the LNER Peppercorn Class A1. However, a brand new A1, 60163 Tornado, built as the next in the class, has been constructed. It moved under its own steam for the first time in August 2008. The book will detail Peppercorn's life with as many personal pictures as possible. It will include black and white and colour pictures of 49 of his A1 locomotives and 15 of his A2 locomotives. The pictures will show the locomotives under construction, from the lineside and on shed.
The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg are three separate European countries that have their own railway systems, with much integration between each other. They are united by all running regular passenger train services, mostly hourly or more frequent, within each country and beyond. Nederlandse Spoorwegen supplies the principal rail service within the Netherlands, supplemented by other operators such as Arriva and Syntus, who run a few local lines. All the passenger services within Belgium are operated by NMBS/SNCB (Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen or Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Belges), uniting the Flemish and Wallonian parts of the country. CFL (correctly called Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois) has a surprisingly large rail network, with frequent internal services and innumerable cross-border operations, including those from Germany and France. John Law has been visiting the railways of this part of Europe since the early 1970s and has travelled on nearly all the lines opened to passenger traffic. He has photographed the changing scene over the years and has compiled a huge number of images, the best of which are within these pages.
This book provides an in-depth history of the Metropolitan-Vickers diesel-electric Type 2 locomotives, more frequently known collectively as the Co-Bo's due to their unusual wheel arrangement. Twenty locomotives were constructed during the late-1950s for use on the London Midland Region of British Railways. The fleet was fraught with difficulties from the start, most notably due to problems with their Crossley engines, this necessitating the need for extensive rehabilitation work during the early-1960s. Matters barely improved and the option to completely re-engine the locomotives with English Electric units was debated at length, but a downturn in traffic levels ultimately resulted in their demise by the end of 1968 prior to any further major rebuilding work being carried out. Significant quantities of new archive and personal sighting information, supported by over 180 photographs and diagrams, have been brought together to allow dramatic new insights into this enigmatic class of locomotives, including the whole debate surrounding potential re-engining, their works histories, the extended periods in storage, together with in-depth reviews of the various detail differences and liveries.
Churchward's 2 cylinder Saint Class 4-6-0s were arguably one of the most important locomotive developments of the twentieth century. The seventy-seven members of the class were so successful that most of the other railway companies in this country used the same 2 cylinder 4-6-0 formula in the design of their own mixed traffic locomotives. Over the years the Saints saw a number of modifications, with many of the class passing into BR ownership. The last member of the class, no. 2920 Saint Martin, was withdrawn from service in 1953 and was sadly not preserved. However, the Great Western Society are now constructing a replica Saint at Didcot Railway Centre. Numbered 2999 it will be named Lady of Legend. In this book author Laurence Waters charts the remarkable history of the class from the construction of the prototype Saint at Swindon in 1902, right through to the final withdrawals in 1953. Using many previously unpublished black and white photographs, accompanied by informative captions, each member of the class is illustrated.This book should appeal to those interested in the history of Great Western Locomotive development as well as modellers of the Great Western and Western Region.
Running a railway is a complex business beset with drama. The operation of heavy equipment at speed, twenty-four hours a day, across the full length of the country and using extremely technical signaling, track and mechanical engineering is no mean feat and throws up a constant stream of challenges. Fortunately, the highly professional railway staff are ready to deal with these daily obstacles using their expertise, dedication and, as is so often required, a sense of humour. Here Geoff Body and his son Ian have collated a selection of entertaining and revealing anecdotes that illustrate just how unexpected working on the railways can be.
Following on from Class 47s: Inverness to Penzance: 1982-85, this volume picks up the story and runs to the end of the summer 1986 timetable. It was a period of change, as the first 47s to be withdrawn started to fall by the wayside in the spring of 1986, since seriously damaged crash victims were no longer likely to be rebuilt. The first non-crash-damaged locos were withdrawn - sacrificed to provide a spares pool for the others. It was also a time of change with regard to how trains were heated, as steam heat became rare south of Hadrian's Wall. Christmas 1985 was a watershed as the relief trains were now routinely electrically heated, with the latest ETH conversions emerging from Crewe Works from November 1985. In 1986, regular trips to Scotland were required to sample the delights of steam heat. Further changes came in summer 1986 as InterCity started to operate some routes in Kent, and Dover Western Docks was now on the map. With over 200 images, this volume provides a visual journey of the Class 47s in 1985-86.
Set against the contrasting rural and industrial scenery of northern Lincolnshire, this book illustrates the area's fascinating passenger and freight trains, railway infrastructure, stations and signalling over a 40-year period. Taking the reader on a journey from west to east through the area, it shows many of the locations on the railway and the variety of locomotives and multiple units that have appeared in the area from 1979 to the present day. This book contains over 180 historic photographs, the majority of which have never been published before, each accompanied by an extensive caption. Together they form a comprehensive historic record of the trains in northern Lincolnshire, including many of the changes that have taken place in the railways of the area. They illustrate how passenger and freight services have grown or declined and how the infrastructure of the railways has evolved through a period of 40 years to meet the needs of the modern railway era.
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.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is Britain's most popular heritage railway, and runs for 18 miles through the national park of the same name. The journey commences at the market town of Pickering, whose station has a recently restored overall roof. It continues through remote Levisham and into the spectacular glaciated gorge of Newtondale and onto Fen Bog, where George Stephenson floated the railway on a bed of sheep fleeces and timber. Once over Goathland summit, the line descends steeply to Goathland station, famous as both Aidensfield in Heartbeat and Hogsmeade station in the Harry Potter films. From Goathland the line drops at a continuous gradient of 1 in 49 to Grosmont, junction with the Esk Valley Railway and site of the busy engine sheds. Today, many NYMR trains continue to the coast at Whitby, a journey of 24 miles from Pickering, mostly on Stephenson's 1836 route.
All too often, when observing our railways, focus falls entirely on the locomotives or multiple units that haul the many services that travel on them. Britain's railway wagons are equally deserving of attention, with many fascinating details of their own. Over the past three decades, there has been much change on the railways, and the wagons reflect this too. Covering an often neglected subject, John Dedman uses his fascinating collection of images to explore British railway wagons during this period. Featuring informative captions, and detailed images, this book will be interesting for both railway enthusiasts and modellers alike.
It was in 1841 that the London & Brighton Railway constructed the line from Norwood (linking with the London & Croydon Railway) to the coast. The lines built between 1841 and 1868 formed a comprehensive countywide network, extending from Three Bridges to Midhurst and Chichester in the west and (via the South Eastern Railway) from Tunbridge Wells to Bexhill, thence to Rye, in the east. The county's coastal stations yield their own interesting story. Apart from the stations on main routes, those on branch lines and wayside halts are also included. In this book, Douglas d'Enno explores the absorbing and sometimes colourful story of one county's railway stations. The older photographs feature early postcards and carefully selected images from railway archives and publications. When juxtaposed with their present-day equivalents, the extent of the change in these facilities for rail passengers can be fully appreciated.
Very few diaries of directors and senior managers of the Big Four railways have survived to enter the public domain. There are, however, two notable Southern Railway diarists whose records have been available in archives for some years, but have been largely ignored by historians; Southern Railway General Manager Gilbert Szlumper and Director Leopold Amery. Their remarkable diaries are addressed in this insightful book, which gives a slightly different view of the company in contrast to the almost sanitised histories by some writers. The surviving diaries of Szlumper are far from complete. They begin in 1936 and continue into the war years, but there are several gaps. Throughout, Szlumper comments on individuals and developments, revealing little-known facts and the circumstances that meant he could never truly achieve his potential. Formally retiring in 1942, he died in 1969, after which his diaries entered the public domain. Leopold Amery was director of the Southern Railway from 1932. A Birmingham Member of Parliament for many years, he was a statesman of some stature, his high offices including Secretary of State for the Colonies in the 1920s. In his autobiography, Amery writes very little on the railway, although he does comment on its family atmosphere. His diaries, which are in the public domain in a Cambridge University archive, have been published in two volumes but Amerys fascinating business activities were omitted by the publisher, and like Szlumper he comments on individuals and developments. The diary information of these two exceptional men has been supplemented by information from the railway, state archives and other sources, and many of the photographs have never been published before. |
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