Trains and railways: general interest

This is the story of a quarter-century struggle to rebuild from scrap condition a unique locomotive, it being an essential part of the British engineering heritage.

"e;A fascinating story"e; of the railways that linked America from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (The Washington Post).

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Britains favourite steeplejack and industrial enthusiastic, the late Fred Dibnah, takes us back to the 18th century when the invention of the steam engine gave an enormous impetus to the development of machinery of all types.

In the 1950s there were still train services to most parts of the country, and steam was everywhere.

The Manor class 4-6-0s were introduced for lightly laid lines and so were popular on the Cambrian Coast Express as well as the Newcastle-Swansea port-to-port express.

Crewe needs little introduction.

A major main line under Abellio Greater Anglia's control connecting East Anglia to the capital, the Great Eastern Main Line opened in 1862 and for just under 115 miles passengers are immersed in the sights of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex before arriving into London.

Coal-black starless nights, comfort only from the weak glow of station lamps.

Second Generation DMUs in Scotland covers the modern diesel multiple units introduced by BR from 1981.

From the mid-1950s diesel multiple units began to appear in Scotland, firstly on the main line between Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street and later on many secondary lines.

Ever wondered what it was like to run a fledgling heritage railway?

Stationary steam engines were the quiet powerhouses of the Industrial Revolution.

The railways of France present a uniquely interesting picture, consisting as they once did of two entirely separate but overlapping systems: the standard-gauge network of the great railway companies and the mostly metre-gauge network of the local rural railways.

The railway lines of London and the South East include tracks from all four of the constituent companies that made up British Railways and subsequently became the Eastern, Midland, Southern and Western regions.

In The End of the Woodhead Route: Electric Trains Stop Here, transport historian Stephen Heginbotham takes a fresh look at this famous and much mourned route.

Covering industrial steam throughout the British Isles over several decades, the terrific photographs featured here, captured by David Letcher, document a period of our industrial development that is now long gone.

Among the many lines that branch all around the East of England, there are some that can be seen diverging from stations that are never used by the train operating companies.

CSX Transportation came to being in 1980 with the merger of Seaboard Coast Lines and the Chessie System, producing a system of over 21,000 route miles in twenty-four states, with incursions into two Canadian provinces.

Southern California Railways looks at the operations of some of the many railroads that serve the southern half of the Golden State.

Though British Rail had dispensed with steam locomotives by 1968, the greatest changes to the capital's railways occurred afterwards.

Since the 1860s trains have conveyed crushed limestone from Derbyshire to the soda ash and chemicals works in mid-Cheshire.

The Manningtree to Harwich railway branch linked the Great Eastern Main line to the ports of Harwich and, later, Harwich Parkeston Quay.

Bradford had the distinction of running its trolleybus system for over sixty years, being, along with Leeds, the first to operate in Britain.

Starting in the late 1970s when the High Speed Trains (HSTs) were first introduced on services out of London Paddington, this book covers approximately forty years of change to the railways of Berkshire.

To many, the narrow gauge belongs entirely to the past; to others it runs a poor second to the glamour and action of main line standard gauge steam.

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Glory Days: Western Region Steam Around London is a photographic tribute to the former Great Western Railway (GWR) in the post-war years up to the end of Western Region (WR) steam on 31 December 1965.

The 1955 Railway Modernisation Plan provided for the introduction of 2,500 new diesel locomotives, with initial orders for 171 examples, to replace steam locomotives on Britain's railways.

Following Eric Treacy's death in 1978, the demand for his books has increased.

The Black Country is an area immediately to the west of Birmingham heavily associated with the Industrial Revolution.

Hill's Tramroad was established in about 1817 by the Blaenavon ironmaster Thomas Hill to connect his ironworks with Llanfoist Wharf on the Brecknock & Abergavenny Canal.

The Peak District has always been a formidable barrier to transport links across it, particularly railways.

This book is a pictorial record of diesel-powered freight and passenger services throughout the area surrounding the North Wessex Downs.

'In no other country in the world is there anything to match Britain's love affair with the steam train; nowhere else are there so many preserved railways keeping the magic of steam alive.

Between the two world wars there was a golden era of industrial design when the benefits of streamlining were realised, allowing for reduced wind resistance, faster transportation and a more efficient economy.

The Hall class 4-6-0, itself a development of the celebrated Saint class, represents the precursor of thousands of mixed traffic 4-6-0 engines that were built for Britain's railways and were the breadwinners in all types of work and conditions.

Return to the era when rail blue ruled supreme on the railways of Britain, when a wide variety of British-built trains operated from the highlands of Scotland, through the now vanished industrial north and midlands, through the Welsh valleys, across the suburban networks of the south-east, and through the picturesque West Country.

Across the country at numerous locations the government operated another railway, hidden from the public, behind high wire fences.

The Midland main line from London St Pancras to the north of England is one of Britain's most important trunk routes.

Coal and iron making first brought railways to what is now called South Yorkshire.

George and Robert Stephenson are well known names in the canon of railway history.

Since the dawn of the railways, away from the glamour of the main line express, thousands of miles of industrial railway moved raw materials and finished products.

The metre-gauge railways of South East Asia are a popular destination for railway enthusiasts from all over the world.

Rich in both ironstone and coal, the East Midlands historically enjoyed an intensive network of railways linking its major towns and cities, many of which are still in place.

The Chilterns consist of a band of chalk hills to the north-west of London stretching from Oxfordshire to Hertfordshire.

Steam in East Anglia recalls the era when steam ruled the tracks and the railways conveyed passengers and goods, from the commuter lines of Tilbury and Southend to the rural tranquillity of north Norfolk.

Preserved (or heritage) railways have, in the majority of cases, at least one working steam locomotive and either a diesel unit or a diesel locomotive.

Following on from their use in revenue-earning service, many vehicles (locomotives, carriages and freight wagons) are put to use within the departmental operating fleet, often being rebuilt for a specific purpose.

As the Rover's name suggests, the north of the area ranges from Cardiff and Bristol (close to the Severn) to Swindon and Cheltenham, then extends down to the Southampton area (on the Solent) with a coastal stretch from Portsmouth as far as Weymouth.