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.

Books on railway history invariably start with the Stephenson's or with Richard Trevithick's locomotive of 1804., but the story begins much earlier with the development of steam engines for pumping out deep mines. Ken Gibbs, a retired engineer who served his apprenticeship in the Swindon Works of British Railways, takes a more practical approach to railway history, using its engineering developments to tell the story of the railways. From the first ideas to the development of better metals, manufacturing, technology in wheel casting, improved boilers and valve gears, his book is a refreshingly different approach to the plethora of picture books showing branch lines in days past. Ken's engineering background and love of railway technology gives us a book suited to the layman and engineer alike, explaining how each development made the railways better, faster or safer. It took over 150 years to develop the steam locomotive from a basic boiler on wheels weighing a couple of tons to the magnificent express passenger and freight locomotives weighing in excess of 100 tons and capable of speeds over 120mph. Read how the steam locomotive developed from those early days to the last days of steam.

The nineteenth century was a time of innovation and expansion across the industrial landscape, and nowhere more so than on the railways, as the new age of iron, steel and steam, literally, gathered pace. At the head of the race up was the iconic Great Western Railway. As this mighty corporation grew, it absorbed an astonishing 353 railway companies. Many of them had their own workshops, depots and manufacturing, often assembling locomotives to the designs of other companies. All these, along with the various designs, became the responsibility of the GWR on takeover, and followed its standardisation of components where this was possible. These works became the beating heart of the GWR's vast empire, where majestic engines were built and maintained by some of the most skillful and inventive engineers of the day. Retired GWR railwayman Ken Gibbs presents a comprehensive portrait of the works from Brunel to the final days of steam in the mid-twentieth century, and beyond to the rediscovery and renovation of many of the workshops for their unique heritage.