Fabbriche di locomotive - Gran Bretagna: libri illustrati

A History of British Rail Engineering Limited

Nel 1970, il British Railways Board creò la British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) per progettare, costruire e manutenere il materiale rotabile. Questo segnò l'inizio di una nuova fase nella tecnologia ferroviaria.

Questo libro racconta la storia della BREL dalla sua fondazione alla sua vendita nel 1992, durante la controversa privatizzazione delle ferrovie britanniche.

La storia ripercorre la progettazione di treni moderni e iconici da parte dell'azienda, la sua collaborazione con subappaltatori e produttori privati "e il suo rapporto spesso difficile con il British Railways Board. Esamina inoltre come la BREL gestì la sfida del materiale rotabile e delle infrastrutture obsolete ereditate.

Meno noto, ma altrettanto importante, fu il successo della BREL nell'esportazione di treni di produzione britannica all'estero.
Al suo apice, la BREL era all'avanguardia della tecnologia ferroviaria. La sua collaborazione con la British Railways Research Division produsse non solo treni famosi, ma anche innovazioni tecniche che ancora oggi fanno parte della rete ferroviaria britannica.

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Hunslet Locomotives Preserved

A 64 page softback illustrated album showcasing a selection of the products of this famous Leeds locomotive builder.

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English Electric Diesel Locomotives

La English Electric costruì la sua prima locomotiva diesel nel 1936 e, prima della chiusura dell'azienda nel 1968, ne costruì migliaia, sia diesel che elettriche, che prestarono servizio in tutto il mondo. Fu tra le aziende scelte dalle British Railways (BR) per costruire i prototipi di locomotive diesel per il programma di modernizzazione del 1955, che prevedeva la sostituzione della trazione a vapore con locomotive diesel ed elettriche.
Le locomotive furono costruite per svolgere un'ampia varietà di compiti, e alcune rimasero in servizio quotidiano anche cinquant'anni dopo.

Questo libro, che raccoglie per lo più fotografie a colori inedite provenienti dalla collezione di George Woods, mostra questi treni in servizio su tutta la rete ferroviaria britannica (BR) dal 1966 al 2019, impegnati su una vasta gamma di treni, sia passeggeri che merci, e nelle diverse livree che hanno sfoggiato sia durante il servizio con le BR che negli anni successivi sotto la gestione privata.

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Robinson Eight-coupled Locomotives

Commencing in 1902 with three 0-8-0 locomotives for the Great Central Railway, J G Robinson's robust freight locomotive fleet expanded rapidly, a pivotal component of General Manager Sam Fay's initiative to rectify the company's financial struggles. Upon the Grouping, the GCR transferred 241 well-crafted, potent, and efficient eight-coupled locomotives to the newly established London & North Eastern Railway.
Simultaneously, the Robinson 2-8-0 became the standard type for the Railway Operating Division of the Royal Engineers in 1917. Over 500 were manufactured, with 300 deployed to support British forces in France during World War I.

Post-war, these locomotives experienced diverse destinies, including short-term loans to nine railway companies, sales to UK and international operators, notably in China and Australia. In 1941, 92 were requisitioned for military service in the Middle East, with an additional five sent to Egypt in 1952.

This comprehensive study explores the intricate history of the Robinson locomotive family, which served on four continents from 1902 to the early 1970s. Encompassing notable types such as the 2-8-0s, original 0-8-0s, unique 0-8-4Ts, 2-8-2T derivatives, and the 'might-have-been' Garratt, the work details modifications and rebuildings undertaken by Gresley and Thompson.

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Beyer, Peacock & Company

The world-famous Beyer, Peacock works of Gorton, Manchester, is remembered principally for its remarkable Beyer-Garratt articulated locomotives, which ran in forty-eight countries. The firm would also turn out steam lorries and steam tram engines.

Among the company's iconic domestic designs were the 4-4-0T condensing engines for the pre-electrified Metropolitan Railway in London, the narrow-gauge 2-4-0 tank engine that is synonymous with the Isle of Man and the stylish and powerful diesel-hydraulic Hymeks for British Railways' Western Region.

Beyer, Peacock exported many of its 8,000 steam, diesel and electric locomotives all over the world and this book illustrates a variety of these throughout the company's 112-year existence, beginning in 1854.

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Locomotive Builders of Leeds : E.B. Wilson and Manning Wardle

The history of commercial railway locomotive manufacture in the Leeds is a fascinating story, covering a period of nearly two centuries, which commenced during the Napoleonic period and only came to an end in 1995.
The two companies that most epitomised the formative years and period of consolidation of this this part of Britains industrial history were E.B. Wilson & Co (1846-59) and Manning Wardle & Co (1858-1927).

The former manufacturer was well known for the Jenny Lind locomotives and their derivative designs used on several British main lines during the mid-nineteenth century. They proved to have a profound influence upon the work of other manufacturers for main line needs.
The latter company was a builder of contractors and industrial locomotives, used worldwide, whose mainstream designs were likewise highly influential upon the work of neighbouring manufacturers, constituting a sphere of locomotive production that lasted from before the Crimean War until after the end of the Second World War.

In this new work, Mark Smithers draws upon a variety of sources, both documentary and illustrative, to arrive at an up-to date appraisal of the achievements of these companies during their respective periods of production, and their legacy to the greater sphere of British railway locomotive development.

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The North British Locomotive Company

La North British Locomotive Company nacque nel 1903 dalla fusione di tre affermati produttori di locomotive di Glasgow: Dubs & Co., Sharp Stewart e Neilson Reid.
Ciascuna di queste aziende godeva di un'ottima reputazione per i suoi prodotti sia in patria che all'estero. La fusione che diede vita a NBL creò il più grande costruttore di locomotive dell'Impero britannico, capitalizzando sulla fama mondiale dei suoi predecessori ed esportando i suoi prodotti in tutto il mondo, in luoghi diversi come Palestina, Nuova Zelanda, Sudafrica e Canada.
La sua produzione di locomotive era tanto varia quanto la sua clientela, con locomotive a vapore di ogni scartamento, che spaziavano dalle minuscole locomotive-tender alle imponenti Beyer-Garratt.

Al passo con i tempi, la North British entrò nel mercato della trazione diesel ed elettrica dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, ma la mancanza di successo in questo campo finì per portare l'azienda al fallimento.

In questo volume, Colin Alexander e Alon Siton presentano un'esplorazione riccamente illustrata di una delle più grandi aziende produttrici di locomotive della Gran Bretagna, includendo i prodotti delle sue tre divisioni vittoriane, fotografie ufficiali degli stabilimenti, immagini di locomotive in servizio e alcune delle numerose locomotive Dubs, Sharp Stewart, Neilson e North British conservate su ferrovie storiche e in musei di tutto il mondo.

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The Vulcan Foundry - 150 Years of Engineering

Founded by Charles Tayleur in 1830 as a factory to produce locomotives for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows grew rapidly both in reputation and capacity.
From 1832, Tayleur was partnered by the great Robert Stephenson, and over the next 138 years the factory would go on to manufacture steam, diesel, gas-turbine and electric locomotives for railways all over the world. The factory would also turn its hand to producing vital armaments during wartime.

Vulcan's products could be seen all over the British Empire and beyond, in locations as diverse as Argentina, Borneo and Egypt. By the 1950s the company had become English Electric, and manufacture of locomotives ceased in 1970.
Iconic Vulcan Foundry locomotives for Great Britain include the legendary Deltics, Black Fives for the LMSR, and AL6 electrics for the West Coast Main Line.

This book illustrates Vulcan's role in equipping the world's railways, with its astonishingly varied output from narrow gauge to broad gauge, and from humble shunters to express passenger thoroughbreds.

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George and Robert Stephenson - The Railway Revolution

They carried Britain into the modern age with dramatic speed, transforming the pace and style of everyday life. We owe them to two men who, father and son, can lay claim to be the most important engineers of their time, George and Robert Stephenson.

In this excellent biography L. T. C. Rolt, author of Brunel and Thomas Telford, assesses their life and their work.

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Men of Steam - Britain's Locomotive Engineers

In recent years the importance of the personal element in locomotive design and operation has increasingly come to be seen as very important. No author any longer attempts to compile articles which state that: Mr X built a class of 6' 4-4-0s... because, in some cases, Wainwright comes immediately to mind, he had little part in their design. Even the great Stanier relied on a team of engineers and draughtsman who transformed his outline ideas into detailed designs.

This book which was originally conceived as a series of articles for Back Track is intended to be brief but tight profiles of some of Britain's loco engineers, some very well known, some not, examining their work in relation to the points made earlier. Some reassessments, that of Gresley for example will be controversial.

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A Century of Locomotive Building - By Robert Stephenson & Co 1823-1923

Questa sintetica panoramica sulla compagnia di locomotive Robert Stephenson & Co. dal 1823 al 1923, a cura di J.G. Warren, offre una storia unica dell'industria ferroviaria e della sua evoluzione.
L'autore include dettagli quali lettere, diagrammi, foto, immagini e tabelle per fornire una comprensione completa di quel secolo di progressi.

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British Steam Locomotive Builders

A partire dai primi anni del 1800 e per quasi 170 anni, le locomotive a vapore sono state costruite in Gran Bretagna e Irlanda da diverse aziende, grandi e piccole.
James Lowe ha dedicato molti anni alla raccolta di un considerevole archivio di materiale sulla storia dell'industria della costruzione di locomotive, dai suoi albori agli albori delle ferrovie fino alla fine della costruzione di locomotive a vapore negli anni '60.

"British Steam Locomotive Builders" è stato pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1975 e non è stato ristampato per alcuni anni.

Questo libro utile e ben documentato è un must per ogni serio storico ferroviario o appassionato di locomotive, 704 pagine con riferimenti a 350 costruttori, 541 illustrazioni e 47 diagrammi.

Il materiale contenuto in questo libro è stato accuratamente selezionato per trattare tutti i principali ex produttori di locomotive a vapore delle Isole Britanniche.

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Stephensons' Rocket and the Rainhill Trials

George and Robert Stephenson's Rocket is arguably the most enduring silhouette in railway history. But why was Rocket that special? And why does the surviving locomotive look so unlike the striking yellow image that we are familiar with from books, postage stamps and the five pound note?

Rocket was built to take part in The Rainhill Trials, the competition to find a locomotive design to pull trains on the world's first passenger line, the Liverpool and Manchester. The trials caught the public's imagination and its victor, Rocket, became a sensation. It quickly became of symbol of technological progress.

The Stephensons' engine set the pattern for future world steam locomotive development for the next 130 years. But would the steam locomotive have developed differently if Rocket had not won the trials?
All these questions while exploring in words and pictures the machine that became the metaphor for what is seen as Britain's greatest gift to the industrial world: the steam locomotive.

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The Yorkshire Engine Co - Sheffield's Locomotive Manufacturer

Drivers leaving the M1 at the Tinsley viaduct can still pass the buildings where the Yorkshire Engine Company constructed and repaired locomotives for a hundred years. Founded in 1865, the company outlived many of its competitors and dispatched its last locomotives in 1965.

Established by a group of local businessmen, technical expertise was provided by Archibald Sturrock, Locomotive Engineer of the Great Northern Railway, and Charles Sacre, Engineer of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway. As the initial orders from UK and Indian railways fell away, the company was forced to take orders from Russia, where payment was not always forthcoming.
The company became a leading manufacturer of Fairlie locomotives and undertook financially disastrous experiments with the building of marine engines and tramway locomotives. By 1880, in spite of new orders from Indian railways, the business was put into liquidation and a new company formed.

This book gives a history of the financial fortunes and experiments of the company and the men who ran it.

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