Railways - Great Britain: Books - History and Rolling Stock

Steaming Through Britain : A History of the Nation's Railways

This lavish volume explores Britain's extensive railway heritage, offering a comprehensive history of their construction, use and subsequent preservation. The book outlines the development of Britain's railways from the coming of steam through to the first age of the train, the 'big four', wartime service, the nationalisation of the network and the advent of diesels and electrification.
It incorporates evocative photographs and artworks from the extensive archives of the National Railway Museum.

Examples of steam preservation lines featured in the book include the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, North Norfolk Railway, Bluebell Railway, Nene Valley Railway, Severn Valley Railway and Paignton and Dartmouth Railway, which are presented in a useful appendix, with contact details and opening times for attractions.

Scotland's Railways: The Last 15 Years

The last 15 years have seen a huge amount of change in the rail network within Scotland, including the replacement of old rolling stock with new trains, an explosion of colourful liveries, the re-opening of routes, the demise of coal trains and the boom of container freight traffic.
Looking at passenger operations, new routes have opened during the period, including those to Larkhall and Alloa along with the Airdrie to Bathgate extension and the Borders route to Tweedbank.
Furthermore, electrification has changed a number of the lines beyond recognition with overhead wires now on the Edinburgh to Glasgow routes via both Falkirk and Shotts along with the suburban route out of Glasgow to Paisley Canal.

Of course, these changes have brought about a shift in traction with new electric units ousting the diesels. Likewise, the introduction of HSTs on services between the Scottish cities has brought much interest back to the passenger scene.
In contrast, the freight market has unfortunately been in decline for some time, compounded significantly by the loss of coal traffic, which accounted for a substantial volume.
However, container traffic has continued to increase and new freight operating companies have appeared, bringing much heritage traction back to the scene.

Illustrated with over 180 images, this book details the huge variety of trains, ranging from the everyday to the unusual, that have been seen on Scotland's rails in the last 15 years.

Cliff Railways, Lifts and Funiculars

One of the most evocative reminders of Victorian ingenuity at the British seaside is the much-loved cliff lift. This simple method of transporting people up and down the cliff side has been a feature of our coast, and a few inland towns, for over 150 years and has recently undergone a renaissance at places as varied as the National Coal Mining Museum, Legoland and the Centre for Alternative Technology.

The cliff lift, otherwise termed the cliff railway or tramway, is also known as a funicular railway. The word `funicular' is defined as `of rope or tension', in other words a cable-hauled railway or tramway.
The lifts were directly descended from cable-hauled railways, prevalent in mines and quarries, but also early passenger lines, where an engine or winding gear hauled loads up steep slopes. The term `cliff lift' also generally encompasses the elevator-type lifts that were erected at some resorts.

This book illustrates, mainly in colour, all the principal cliff lifts and railways that have been built in the British Isles, along with associated cable tramways, since their inception in the Victorian age.
In addition to featuring all the surviving lifts, this book includes others which are long gone, and serves as a fine record of these charming and unique structures.

The Light Railways of Britain & Ireland

First published in 1985 by Moorland Press, The Light Railways of Britain & Ireland has remained unavailable for more than twenty-five years, until now. Re-released by Pen & Sword, this is a thorough and engaging book that covers, in depth, the fascinating story of Britain's last railway development, the Rural light railways, constructed as a result of the Light Railways Act 1896.

Rigorously detailed, it charts the overall history of the last great railway boom in Britain - the light railway boom - from 1896, to the beginning of the Great War in 1914. During this period a large number of narrow and standard gauge lines were constructed in both Britain and Ireland, in order to serve and open up areas in both countries that, at the time, lacked adequate transport links.

This book tells the story of how these lines were constructed and why, in most cases, they eventually failed, due to post-First World War road competition.
Authored by two highly acclaimed writers of transport history, this is a true testament to, and a timely reminder of, Britain's last railway development.

Narrow Gauge Lines of the British Isles

Although standard gauge railways came to dominate the railways of Britain, there was also a considerable number of narrow gauge lines constructed throughout the British Isles.
Although these were predominantly for industrial purposes, a significant number from the Cambeltown and Macrihanish on the Mull of Kintyre, to the Southwold on the Suffolk coast and the Lynton & Barnstaple in North Devon, carried regular passenger traffic.

This book looks in detail at narrow gauge lines across the British Isles, illustrated with a comprehensive selection of both colour and mono photographs, the latter because a number of lines had closed before the appearance of colour photography. Informative and extended captions illuminate the illustrations and provide a lovely and nostalgic history of these lines.

Final Journey : The Untold Story of Funeral Trains

This new history reveals the previously untold story of why and how trains have been used to transport the dead, enabling their burial in a place of significance to the bereaved. Profusely illustrated with many images, some never previously published, Nicolas Wheatley's work details how the mainline railways carried out this important yet often hidden work from the Victorian age to the 1980s, as well as how ceremonial funeral transport continues on heritage railways today.
From royalty, aristocrats and other VIPs (including Sir Winston Churchill and the Unknown Warrior) to victims of accidents and ordinary people, Final Journey explores the way in which these people travelled for the last time by train before being laid to rest.