The aim of the Watching series is to draw attention to some of the very interesting items around us, things that perhaps we don't notice as much as we might.
In the 1980s the Oxford Publishing Company produced an amalgam of two books written by former Branksome fireman Peter Smith entitled Mendips Engineman and Footplate over the Mendips.
In the 1980s the Oxford Publishing Company produced an amalgam of two books written by former Branksome fireman Peter Smith entitled Mendips Engineman and Footplate over the Mendips.
When Harold Gasson first put pen to paper more than forty years ago, it was at a time when there was a growing resurgence of interest in the steam railway.
Railway expansion was the great industrial project of the late 19th century, and the Great Powers built railways at speed and reaped great commercial benefits.
The biggest cargo of high iron lore and legend ever hauled in one load, A TREASURY OF RAILROAD FOLKLORE contains over a century of the greatest stories, traditions and songs of the American railroad.
During much of his early career, from 1944 through to the early 1960s, Richard Hardy took hundreds of pictures of life on the railways and the men he knew and worked with on a daily basis, using his trusty Brownie 620 box camera.
During much of his early career, from 1944 through to the early 1960s, Richard Hardy took hundreds of pictures of life on the railways and the men he knew and worked with on a daily basis, using his trusty Brownie 620 box camera.
Have you ever watched wagon after wagon of a goods train thunder past and wondered where it is heading, what it is carrying, and how it works its way between the passenger services?
Have you ever watched wagon after wagon of a goods train thunder past and wondered where it is heading, what it is carrying, and how it works its way between the passenger services?
This fascinating pocket book draws on numerous primary sources from the early days of the rail network through to the Big Four, British Railways and beyond to present a unique guide to the knowledge and skills required for locomotive drivers, engineers and firemen.
Evolving from the horse-drawn stage coaches that they soon eclipsed, railway carriages steadily grew in sophistication so that by the end of the nineteenth century the railway passenger travelled in comfortable rolling stock of a design familiar to many until the 1960s.
Evolving from the horse-drawn stage coaches that they soon eclipsed, railway carriages steadily grew in sophistication so that by the end of the nineteenth century the railway passenger travelled in comfortable rolling stock of a design familiar to many until the 1960s.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel considered the Great Western Railway the 'finest work in England' and he contributed many groundbreaking features, none so unorthodox as the decision not to adopt the 'standard' track gauge of 4ft 8½in and instead introduce the new 'broad gauge' of 7ft ¼in.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel considered the Great Western Railway the 'finest work in England' and he contributed many groundbreaking features, none so unorthodox as the decision not to adopt the 'standard' track gauge of 4ft 8 in and instead introduce the new 'broad gauge' of 7ft in.
The London and North Eastern Railway, or LNER as it was familiarly known, was one of the Big Four companies that took control of Britain's railway network following the 'Grouping' in 1923.
The London and North Eastern Railway, or LNER as it was familiarly known, was one of the Big Four companies that took control of Britain's railway network following the 'Grouping' in 1923.
This is the definitive story of the men who built the railways the unknown Victorian labourers who blasted, tunnelled, drank and brawled their way across nineteenth-century England.
First published for the centenary of the Great Western Railway in 1935, 'Railway Ribaldry' is an affectionate and humorous look at life on board the company's famous trains, incorporating some of William Heath Robinson's own trademark madcap contraptions.
Pacific, collectively a name applied to steam locomotives with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement is perhaps more commonly associated with express passenger engines but that is not the whole story, there were also Pacific Tank Engines.
Pacific, collectively a name applied to steam locomotives with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement is perhaps more commonly associated with express passenger engines but that is not the whole story, there were also Pacific Tank Engines.
From hauling the first non-stop express from London to Edinburgh in 1928 and breaking the 100mph barrier in 1934, to being sold in 1963, and to its final home at the York National Railway Centre, The Flying Scotsman has a rich and, at times, controversial history.