Transport: general interest

The A4 Pacific locomotive No.

The slogan 'The Last Best Place' certainly describes well the huge state of Montana, which stretches some 630 miles across and is located in the north-western United States.

This engaging book follows the history of the Lotus 2+2 coupes from the Elan through to the Evora.

A thin pair of steel ribbons across town and countryside, along sea walls, over remote and lonely Highland moors, through tunnels, and carried on magnificent viaducts - the special association between railway and landscape is explored in this photo essay by two of the UK's best-known railway photographers, one of whom was named the Sunday Times 'Take A View' Young Landscape Photographer of the Year.

The Bulleid Pacifics remain one of the most iconic classes of locomotives in the history of Britain's railways - a unique breed that delighted enthusiasts all around the Southern Region.

The London to Brighton run, held each year by the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society, is a key date in the diary of any vintage vehicle enthusiast or member of the preservation community.

The Electrostar is a collective name given to the hugely successful class of EMUs produced by Bombardier at its Derby factory.

A recovery vehicle, or breakdown wagon, is the type of truck you hope you will never need.

In the early 1990s, British Rail introduced the 182-strong Class 158 fleet, followed by the 22-strong Class 159s.

Formed in 1999, GB Railfreight was one of several new rail freight operators to appear after the privatisation and break-up of British Rail in the 1990s.

Since their introduction in 1984, the Class 150 series of 'Sprinter' diesel multiple units have plied their trade across the UK - from Cornwall to Scotland and many places in between - replacing large numbers of aging 1950s-built rolling stock.

Formed in 2003, Arriva Trains Wales was awarded the franchise to run the majority of services in Wales with services also extending over the border to Manchester, Birmingham and Cheltenham.

The Ayrshire Road Run was instigated in 1993 as an adjunct to the established annual vintage rally organised by the Ayrshire Vintage Tractor & Machinery Club (AVT&MC).

While Brighton is synonymous with EMUs and commuter trains, over the years there has also been some limited freight and parcels traffic and, eventually, the reintroduced direct services to the Midlands and North West brought further variety to the scene.

The Midlands has always offered a range of interesting locales for the rail enthusiast - Nottingham, Guide Bridge, Birmingham New Street and, of course, Crewe.

With a wealth of rare and previously unseen images, Southampton City Transport Buses illustrates the development of mainly diesel-powered buses operated by Southampton City Transport and its successors since the early years of the twentieth century until recent times.

East Anglia can sometimes be overlooked in favour of the larger mainlines that run through this country but, as can be seen by this exhibition of the sights found within the boundaries of an Anglia Day Ranger, it can be an interesting and often picturesque place to spend time on the rails.

British Rail introduced thirty-one Class 91 locomotives from 1989 onwards.

The provincial bus operations of Britain underwent great upheavals following legislation enacted in 1969.

Initially designed and built by Hunting Percival, the Jet Provost was a jet-powered development of the piston Provost trainer, which only entered service five years before its more powerful younger sibling.

This book tells the full story of the BAe 146, a short-haul airliner produced between 1983 and 2002.

Becoming the fourth largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States when Consolidated merged with Vultee in 1943, Convair quickly built a reputation for designing and building some of the largest and most powerful aircraft in the world.

Britain's railways in the early 1970s looked to be in terminal decline.

For several generations of Londoners the highlight of each summer was a day trip to the coast aboard a well-loved pleasure steamer.

The start of the twenty-first century saw a flurry of bus activity at Stratford in East London to provide services to the Millennium Dome - this proved to be largely unneeded.

Here, John Dedman and Pete Nurse look back on the heyday of the Day Ranger and Rover tickets on the South Coast, covering areas stretching between Portsmouth Harbour and Weymouth Quay.

Ever since the Romans built Stane Street from London to Chichester and pedlars used the high ridge-line tracks across the South Downs, Sussex has needed strategic transportation as an aid to commerce and its ever-growing population.

The Midland Railway accrued its vast wealth through coal, and while bank interest rates were paying about 3 per cent the Midland Railway was paying double that on its shares.

Starting with a day trip (by air from Blackpool) in 1970, this book covers the rest of the decade with visits in 1971, 1972, 1976 and 1979.

As Britain entered the 1990s, the character of East London was changing rapidly.

Aberdeen Corporation Transport and its successors, Grampian Transport and FirstBus/First Aberdeen, can trace their history back to 1898 when they commenced tram operation within the city of Aberdeen.

Dating back to 1921 and originally operating from a base in the small Northamptonshire town of Irthlingborough, United Counties expanded significantly during the 1920s and 1930s, firmly establishing themselves in the county of Northamptonshire, as well as a network of services in south Lincolnshire, south Leicestershire and the Stony Stratford area of Buckinghamshire.

As the modernisation of the former British Railways moved forward into Railtrack and then Network Rail, various schemes to bring the West Country railway network up to date came - and went!

During the days of British Rail it was possible to purchase a Rail Rover type ticket for unlimited travel over certain areas or regions, over a single day, or for a longer period.

The six principal classes of diesel locomotive that once made up the 'Type 4' classification - the 40, 44, 45, 46, 47 and 50 - were the survivors of a wider group that can trace its origins to the British Transport Commission's Modernisation Plan of 1955.

Railways Around Hereford features photographs taken by author Robert Lewis and a number of other railway enthusiasts, covering a period of around fifty years.

One of the most evocative reminders of Victorian ingenuity at the British seaside is the much-loved cliff lift.

Based in the city of the same name, Bristol commenced production of buses at the turn of the twentieth century, initially for its own bus fleet.

Between July 1761, when a navigable aqueduct opened on the Bridgewater Canal at Barton-upon-Irwell, and July 1963, date of the completion of the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6 near Warrington, Britain would see the construction of a great number of aqueducts and viaducts.

Since the 1970s, London has developed rapidly as a tourist location.

Though personally remembered by very few people, the interwar period was a fascinating time for railway enthusiasts, with the colourful liveries of the pre-Grouping companies allowing for a wide variety of interesting markings in the run-up to Grouping in 1923.

Railways Around Worcestershire is one man's view of a range of railway operations in the beautiful heart of England over a period spanning nearly half a century.

Following the First World War, some railway and tramway companies began selling the bodies of their railway carriages and tramcars, with many finding new uses as houses or bungalows, workshops, chicken houses, bus shelters or animal shelters.

In September 1967 the last steam locos finished operations in the North East - the area where it had all begun 142 years before.

The railways of Spain and Portugal saw steam locomotives working on the main lines until the late 1970s, although in Spain several mining companies still employed steam into the 1980s.

The Second World War had a profound effect on public transport in the West Midlands.

Keen to quickly expand during the 1980s, Stagecoach purchased three former National Bus Company subsidiaries during its sell-off in 1986/7 to give it a foothold in the English bus market.

Best known as the Titfield Thunderbolt, Lion is one of the most beloved locomotives in railway preservation - transformed from humble luggage engine to film star, this is a Cinderella story.

Over the years, the Republic of Ireland's railways have fascinated rail enthusiasts.

Opened in 1960, the Bluebell Railway was the very first standard gauge former British Railways line in Britain to be taken over by volunteers, having seen the success already achieved at the narrow gauge Talyllyn and Ffestiniog Railways in Wales.