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Books Railways - Ry
RAILWAYS OF
NEWARK ON TRENT
by Michael A. Vanns |
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In 1852, the Great Northern Railway, opening an important section of its
main line between London and Doncaster, crossed the Midland Railway’s 1846
branch between Nottingham and Lincoln on the level just north of
Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire. The resultant inconvenient ‘flat’
crossing became, and will continue to remain for the next few years, one
of the most emotive symbols of the intense and almost unfettered rivalry
between Britain’s fiercely independent Victorian railway companies. This
rivalry and the effect of the Midland and Great Northern railways and
their successors on the economy of a small Midlands market town including
its surrounding area, is at the heart of this book. From the earliest
railway plans of the 1830s through to the recent revival of passenger
services, the events of the past 150 years make a fascinating story. There
is a wealth of information mostly from primary sources in this
comprehensive local history, and the majority of illustrations have never
been published before.
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For the past 21 years the author has worked as a
curator at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust in Shropshire, and is
currently their Head of Education. But he was born and brought up in
Newark, and a number of his relatives worked on the railways locally. This
first hand experience of railways in his home town has led to a life-long
interest in railway history.
The book is to A5 format and consists of 256 pages
with around 200 photographs, maps and plans etc. It is casebound with a
gold-block spine and a laminated colour dust jacket and colour endpapers. |
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OL107 |
ISBN 0 85361 532 2
ISBN 978 0 85361 532 3 |
£ 19.95 |
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RAILWAYS
OF STOURBRIDGE
by Clive Butcher |
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The Railways of Stourbridge is a detailed history which recalls the
sequence of events which ultimately led to today’s railway operation in
the area. The book places heavy emphasis on the 19th and early 20th
centuries and fully utilises contemporary material, especially local
newspaper reports to provide the reader with a flavour of the period and
an understanding of the thinking at the time. This though, does not mean
that the railway operation itself has been ignored: quite the contrary in
fact. The freight and passenger services in the area, from the earliest
days to the present, together with the associated motive power, have been
covered at length. The reminiscences and experiences of local railwaymen
bring to the text the personal touch of men who actually worked at
Stourbridge depot and operated its services.
The book also covers the private tramways and
mineral railways which fed much lucrative business into the main line
operation and the railway schemes proposed but never constructed, and very
grand some of these schemes were.
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The book itself is not directed at one particular
section of the railway readership. Hopefully, it will appeal to all those
with an interest in railways in this part of the Black Country.
The book is to A5 format,and consists of 256
pages of art paper which include over 220 photographs, maps and plans etc.
The book is casebound with a gold-blocked spine and a laminated dust
jacket. |
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OL104 |
ISBN 0 85361 533 0
ISBN 978 0 85361 533 0 |
£ 19.95 |
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The RAILWAYS
OF UPPER STRATHEARN - Crieff-Balquhidder
by Bernard Byrom |
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In the 21st century, when a journey by motor car along
the A85 from Comrie to Crieff occupies a mere 10 minutes, it is difficult
to imagine the tremendous enthusiasm with which the people of Comrie
welcomed the arrival in 1893 of the branch line from Crieff. Comrie, along
with the other villages in Upper Strathearn between Crieff and
Lochearnhead, had been steadily increasing in size and prosperity in the
second half of the 19th century but still depended on stagecoaches and
general carriers for communication with the outside world.
This book tells of the efforts made over many decades to bring the railway
to Comrie and to continue it westwards to link with the Callander & Oban
line at Lochearnhead. All these efforts came to nothing until, in the end,
the single-minded determination of Colonel David Robertson Williamson,
Laird of Lawers, above all others achieved that goal.
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When the House of Commons passed the Crieff & Comrie Railway Act in 1890
there was cause for much excitement. In 1905 the line was completed
westwards to Balquhidder where it joined the Callander & Oban Railway and
its promoters had great hopes of Oban being developed as a major
transatlantic port. But it was not to be. The line never really prospered
in spite of attempts in the 1930s to develop it as a tourist route. The
end came in 1951 for the Balquhidder-Comrie section of the line and Comrie
lost its rail service completely in 1964 when the remaining section to
Crieff and Gleneagles was also closed.
In
writing the book the author has not only used original material held in
various archives but has also quoted extensively from contemporary
newspapers reports. These reports vividly convey the excitement generated
in villages whose transport system had been confined to the speed of a
stagecoach or a horse-drawn cart and were now entering the modern age of
steam transport.
A5
format, with a square-backed spine, the book consists of 160 pages which
include 110 illustrations and it is printed on art paper throughout.
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LP225 |
ISBN 0
85361 622 1
ISBN 978 0 85361 622 1 |
£ 11.95 |
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RAILWAYS
TO NEW HOLLAND AND THE HUMBER FERRIES
by A. J. Ludlam |
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The New Holland to Hull ferry was purchased by the Great Grimsby &
Sheffield Junction Railway, in 1845, and the ferry service remained
railway-owned until its demise coinciding with the opening of the Humber
Bridge in June 1981. This is the story of the metamorphosis of a bleak,
windswept and thinly populated area of North Lincolnshire, from fen and
farmland into an important railway colony. The railways covered are: From
Great Coates in the east, through to the junction at Habrough and then via
Ulceby and Goxhill to New Holland; the Barton-on-Humber branch; the line
from Goxhill via East Halton and Killingholme; the Great Central
Railway-built Immingham Dock. The book is to A5 format, and consists of
104 pages. It includes 140 photographs/maps etc., and is printed on art
paper throughout with a 2-colour square-backed Linson cover. |
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LP198 |
ISBN 0 85361 494 6
ISBN 978 0 85361 494 4 |
£ 8.95 |
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RAILWAYS TO SKEGNESS including Kirkstead to Little Steeping
by A.J. Ludlam
LAST FEW COPIES AVAILABLE - Order now to avoid disappointment |
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In 1856, Skegness was described as ‘a pleasant village and bathing place’
which at that time had two hotels, but it was the arrival of the railway
in 1873 that enabled the town to develop to the extent that it did. The
branch to Skegness leaves the East Lincolnshire line at Firsby, and
travels via Wainfleet, the original terminus of the route. Skegness is
synonymous with John Hassall’s painting of the ‘Jolly Fisherman’ which was
used by the railway to promote the resort, and is featured on what is one
of the best-known and best-loved of all British railway posters. Initially
the major portion of visitors to Skegness came from London and points
south of Grantham. With the intention of popularising the resort and
offering better travelling facilities for passengers from Lancashire and
the West Riding, the line from Kirkstead (Woodhall Jn) to Little Steeping
was opened in 1913. The story of this line is also covered. With the
development of the first of Billy Butlin’s holiday camps in the 1930s,
further increases in the number of visitors was ensured.
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The Firsby to
Skegness and Kirkstead to Little Steeping railways both link in with other
titles by the author and published by the Oakwood Press, The East
Lincolnshire Railway and the Lincolnshire Loop Line.
A5 format, 160 pages of art paper, including over
150 photographs/drawings with a full colour laminated card cover with a
square-backed spine. |
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LP205 |
ISBN 0 85361 518 7
ISBN 978 0 85361 518 7 |
£ 11.95 |
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SIR VINCENT RAVEN
and the North Eastern Railway
by Peter Grafton |
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It would be incorrect to state that Sir
Vincent Ravens contribution to the development of British railways has been
ignored but it has certainly been overlooked and this biography will, it is
hoped, re-dress the imbalance. Vincent Raven was, arguably, one of the far
sighted - if not the most far-sighted - of the Victorian railway engineers.
His work on steam locomotives was overshadowed by Churchward of the Great
Western Railway and by Gresley of the Great Northern Railway but in
promulgating his ideas on electric traction, in common with Sir Isaac
Newton, he stood on the shoulders of giants.
Raven
was born in Great Fransham in Norfolk 1859 and in 1875 he took up a pupil
apprenticeship with the North Eastern Railway at Gateshed. By 1910 Raven
had risen to the position of Chief Mechanical Engineer with the NER. He was
to remain in that position until the formation of the LNER at the Grouping.
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His
0-8-0 locomotives in particular were to prove to be solid workhorses from
their introduction right through to withdrawal in the 1960s. Raven's
vision of an electrified main line from York to Newcastle was set aside with
the onset of World War 1. Little
was he to know that it was to take some 70 years before that particular
dream was to become a reality.
The
book is to A5 format. It
consists of 144 pages, with l09 illustrations and is printed on art paper
throughout. It has a full colour laminated cover with a square-backed
spine. |
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OL137 |
ISBN 0
85361 640 X
ISBN 978 0 85361 640 5 |
£ 11.95 |
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RÉSEAU BRETON - A Rail Network
in Brittany
by Gordon Gravett
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During the late 1950s and
1960s vast numbers of British enthusiasts were making the Channel crossing
to visit the Réseau
Breton, the remaining metre gauge railway in Brittany. It was the most
successful, and long-lived, of a number of metre gauge railways in this
area of northern France, eventually finishing in 1967. Despite being
narrow gauge, this was no sleepy backwater of a railway - the network
consisted of five routes radiating from a very busy junction station and
railway centre at Carhaix. Carhaix also boasted extremely active
locomotive and carriage workshops alongside a busy running shed that kept
the railway supplied with locomotives for the many daily duties. In
post-war days diesel railcars had been employed on all the scheduled
passenger services, but steam was very active on the heavy goods services
and mixed trains - with large Mallet tanks often hauling in excess of 300
tons. |
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One of the five lines was
converted to standard gauge and continues to provide a service into and
out of Carhaix and the book brings the story up to date with a look at
some of the modern traction that now operates the line, along with details
of earlier standard gauge equipment.
The majority of the network
was closed over 30 years ago but there is still much to see and explore.
The author has rounded up this account by giving suggestions of routes
that could be walked or cycled - quite legally -
along the old track beds.
The book is to A5
format and consists of 176 pages, with a glossy laminated full colour
cover with a square-backed spine. The text is complemented with more than
100 photographs, plans, maps and, with railway modellers in mind, drawings
of locomotives, rolling stock and lineside structures.
Now includes fold out map of the
Réseau
Breton Railway Network. |
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X65 |
ISBN 0 85361
536 5
ISBN 978 0 85361 536 1 |
£ 10.95 |
Réseau
Breton Railway Network
fold-out map |
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X65M |
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£1.00 |
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J.G. ROBINSON: A Lifetime’s Work
by D. Jackson
LAST FEW COPIES AVAILABLE - Order now to avoid disappointment |
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A major railway biography. The author’s research has
been exhaustive, with the passing of time since Robinson’s work, it is
surprising the amount of new information that has been found. Apart from
more usual railway sources the author has had access to the Robinson
family’s knowledge and photographic archive. The book gives an extremely
readable account of this well-respected railwayman’s work in England and
Ireland. Like many great railway families the Robinson’s originated in
North East England. J.G. Robinson’s railway apprenticeship started on the
GWR at Swindon Works in 1872, he then became assistant to his father,
Matthew, at Bristol. JGR first started to make a name for himself as
Locomotive Superintendent for the Waterford & Limerick Railway. But his
most famous work was achieved from 1900 onwards at the Great Central
Railway’s Gorton Works. He was to design some of Britain’s most beautiful
engines in the Edwardian Era some of which could still be seen at work in
the 1960s.
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Amongst his best known designs were
‘Sir Sam Fay’, the ‘Directors’, and the ubiquitous Great Central 2-8-0.
His ideas were to influence locomotive design all over the world. The text
is beautifully illustrated with over 150 photographs/plans etc. most of
which are previously unpublished.
The book consists of 240 pages and is printed on
art paper throughout, it is casebound, with a gold-blocked spine and has
printed endpapers with a colour dust jacket. |
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OL98 |
ISBN 0 85361 497 0
ISBN 978 0 85361 497 5 |
£ 18.95 |
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THE
ROSS, MONMOUTH AND
PONTYPOOL ROAD LINE
by Stanley C Jenkins |
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The turbulent history of the
South Wales borderlands produced a romantic and picturesque landscape of
castles and villages. In Victorian times, this attractive, Anglo-Celtic
district contained a network of local branch lines, which opened-up the
area to tourists and visitors from England and elsewhere. The
cross-country branch lines from Ross-on-Wye to Monmouth via Symond’s Yat,
and from Monmouth to Little Mill (near Pontypool) via Raglan and Usk were
interesting and classic Great Western rural lines. The route from
Ross-on-Wye to Pontypool Road was built by two separate companies, the
Ross & Monmouth Railway being responsible for the eastern section of the
line, while the western portion from Monmouth to Little Mill Junction,
near Pontypool Road, was built by the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool
Railway. The Great Western Railway, which absorbed both undertakings,
regarded the Ross-on-Wye to Little Mill Junction line as a continuous
route. |
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Chapters One and Two tell the
stories of the Ross & Monmouth and Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool
railways respectively, while Chapter Three deals with the operation of the
line under Great Western auspices. The next chapters describe the stations
and infrastructure of the two lines in greater detail. Finally, Chapter
Six recounts the decline of the railway after World War II.
This book was first published
in 2002, and this revised and enlarged Second Edition has an extra 24
pages enabling the inclusion of some new photographs. Also included is a
full page track plan of Glascoed (which clearly shows the five
stations/halts there). The track plan shows the developments which took
place from 1938 and during World War II as Glascoed’s Royal Ordnance
Factory became a great source of traffic for the railway. The full story
of developments at Raglan prior to the opening of its station has also
been clarified.
A5 format, the book
consists of 200 pages with 198 illustrations and is printed on high
quality art paper. It has a glossy colour card cover with a square-backed
spine. |
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LP220 |
ISBN
978 0 85361 692 4 |
£ 11.95 |
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RYDE REVISITED:
The work of William Hogg produced from the original glass plate negatives
by Colin Fairweather & Alan Stroud
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Postcard collectors on the Isle of Wight will be
familiar with the names of several photographers and producers of
postcards; the names Beken, Debenham and Broderick come to mind for
example, but a name always near the top of the list will be that of
William R. Hogg.
This book celebrates Hogg's work by reproducing over
one hundred of his photographs, in large format and in the highest
possible detail to a degree unavailable until now. Without exception they
have all been produced from Hogg's original glass negatives; there are no
photographs of photographs and no copies of postcards.
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With the aid of computers we have been able to revisit
the glass negatives that Hogg used to produce his postcards, and produce
print of the highest quality.
Thanks to Mr Hogg, today we can enjoy what must be a comparative rarity,
an almost complete photographic record of a Victorian town, frozen forever
in a collection of hundreds of glass negatives of the highest
quality. Virtually the whole town has been preserved. Hogg has
photographed scenes of every description, covering nearly the whole of
central Ryde including roads, buildings, lanes and in particular, back
streets, which were largely ignored by other photographers. He did
all this superbly and the photographs are all of the highest technical
quality and almost without exception they are perfectly composed. Apart
from a small handful, the photographs in this book are exactly as Mr Hogg
composed them in his viewfinder; we have been unable to improve on his
composition.
Mr
Hogg would be pleased and proud to see his photographs published today, as
indeed he should be. His work was of the highest standard, technically and
aesthetically, and it deserves to live on. The authors are equally pleased
and proud to be able to have saved Mr Hogg's negatives from either a life
on dusty shelves where they would no doubt remain unseen or even worse,
from destruction.
Authors Colin Fairweather and Alan Stroud feel privileged to have been
able to breathe a new life into Mr Hogg's photographs and to present them
to a new audience.
Large Landscape Format, 210mm x 290mm. 99 full-page plates, on 128 pages.
Casebound with a gold-blocked spine, printed endpapers, and a laminated
dust jacket. |
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X86 |
ISBN
978 0 85361 660 3 |
£ 19.95 |
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