Branch Line Britain

Branch Line Britain PDF Author: Paul Atterbury
Publisher: David & Charles Publishers
ISBN: 9780715324165
Category : Railroads
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
With an array of nostalgic photographs and ephemera, this work celebrates the heritage of branchline and rural Britain. It explores surviving lines, and lines no longer in use, visits preserved lines and travels on those lines long forgotten.

Branch Line Britain

Branch Line Britain PDF Author: Paul Atterbury
Publisher: David & Charles Publishers
ISBN: 9780715324165
Category : Railroads
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
With an array of nostalgic photographs and ephemera, this work celebrates the heritage of branchline and rural Britain. It explores surviving lines, and lines no longer in use, visits preserved lines and travels on those lines long forgotten.

Branch Line Britain

Branch Line Britain PDF Author: Paul D Shannon
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1399089919
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
This book examines in words and pictures the network of British branch lines and other secondary routes that survived the mass closures of the 1960s. While nearly 4,000 route miles were lost between 1963 and 1970, the cuts were less severe than they might have been. Some lines were reprieved because of their social importance, even though they would never pay their way in purely commercial terms. They included some lengthy rural routes, such as those serving the Far North of Scotland, Central Wales and the Cumbrian Coast, as well as some urban backwaters such as Romford to Upminster and the St Albans Abbey branch. As the 1970s progressed, closures became scarce, but cost-cutting measures included the singling of some lines as well as scaled-down stations and simplified signalling. Yet even today, some pockets of traditional operation survive. Mechanical signal boxes still control many hundreds of miles across the network, in areas as diverse as West Cornwall, East Lincolnshire and South West Scotland. This book also celebrates several reopened and new lines, ranging from the major Borders Railway project in Scotland to the Stansted Airport and Barking Riverside branches in South East England - making the point that the branch line concept is far from dead.

Scotland's Lost Branch Lines

Scotland's Lost Branch Lines PDF Author: David Spaven
Publisher: Origin
ISBN: 1788857224
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
The infamous ‘Beeching Axe’ swept away virtually every Scottish branch line in the 1960s. Conventional wisdom viewed these losses as regrettable yet inevitable in an era of growing affluence and rising car ownership. This ground-breaking study of Dr Beeching’s approach to closures has unearthed – from rarely or never previously referenced archive sources – strong evidence of a ‘stitch-up’, ignoring the scope for sensible economies and improvements which would have allowed a significant number of axed routes to survive and prosper. Acclaimed railway historian David Spaven traces the birth, life and eventual death of Scotland’s branch lines through the unique stories of how a dozen routes lost their trains in the 1960s: the lines to Ballachulish, Ballater, Callander, Crail, Crieff /Comrie, Fraserburgh, Kelso, Kilmacolm, Leven, Peebles, Peterhead and St Andrews. He concludes by exploring a potential renaissance of branch lines, propelled by concerns over road congestion, vehicle pollution and the climate emergency.

Eleven Minutes Late

Eleven Minutes Late PDF Author: Matthew Engel
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 0230740413
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
Britain gave railways to the world, yet its own network is the dearest (definitely) and the worst (probably) in Western Europe. Trains are deeply embedded in the national psyche and folklore - yet it is considered uncool to care about them. For Matthew Engel the railway system is the ultimate expression of Britishness. It represents all the nation's ingenuity, incompetence, nostalgia, corruption, humour, capacity for suffering and even sexual repression. To uncover its mysteries, Engel has travelled the system from Penzance to Thurso, exploring its history and talking to people from politicians to platform staff. Along the way Engel ('half-John Betjeman, half-Victor Meldrew') finds the most charmingly bizarre train in Britain, the most beautiful branch line, the rudest railwayman, and - after a quest lasting decades - an Individual Pot of Strawberry Jam. Eleven Minutes Late is both a polemic and a paean, and it is also very funny.

The Railways

The Railways PDF Author: Simon Bradley
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847653529
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 525

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Book Description
Sunday Times History Book of the Year 2015 Britain's railways have been a vital part of national life for nearly 200 years. Transforming lives and landscapes, they have left their mark on everything from timekeeping to tourism. As a self-contained world governed by distinctive rules and traditions, the network also exerts a fascination all its own. From the classical grandeur of Newcastle station to the ceaseless traffic of Clapham Junction, from the mysteries of Brunel's atmospheric railway to the lost routines of the great marshalling yards, Simon Bradley explores the world of Britain's railways, the evolution of the trains, and the changing experiences of passengers and workers. The Victorians' private compartments, railway rugs and footwarmers have made way for air-conditioned carriages with airline-type seating, but the railways remain a giant and diverse anthology of structures from every period, and parts of the system are the oldest in the world. Using fresh research, keen observation and a wealth of cultural references, Bradley weaves from this network a remarkable story of technological achievement, of architecture and engineering, of shifting social classes and gender relations, of safety and crime, of tourism and the changing world of work. The Railways shows us that to travel through Britain by train is to journey through time as well as space.

Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations

Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations PDF Author: Simon Jenkins
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241978998
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
Discover the architectural gems that are Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations in this Sunday Times top 10 bestseller 'This is a cracker . . . a beautiful book' Chris Evans It is the scene for our hopeful beginnings and our intended ends, and the timeless experiences of coming and going, meeting, greeting and parting. It is an institution with its own rituals and priests, and a long-neglected aspect of Britain's architecture. And yet so little do we look at the railway station. Simon Jenkins has travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Waterloo to Wemyss Bay, Betws-y-Coed to Beverley, to select his hundred best railway stations. Blending his usual insight and authority with his personal reflections and experiences - including his founding the Railway Heritage Trust - the foremost expert on our national heritage deftly reveals the history, geography, design and significance of each of these glories. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of our social history shows the station's role in the national imagination; champions the engineers, architects and rival companies that made them possible; and tells the story behind the triumphs and follies of these very British creations. These are the marvellous, often undersung places that link our nation, celebrated like never before. 'However spectacular the book's photographs, it's the author's prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages' The Times 'An uplifting exploration of our social history' Guardian

The Times History of Britain's Railways

The Times History of Britain's Railways PDF Author: Julian Holland
Publisher: Times Books
ISBN: 9780008135348
Category : Railroads
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Follow the development, decline and later revival of Britain s iconic railways with bestselling railway author Julian Holland. Discover the fascinating history of our remarkable railway heritage through expert commentary, stunning photographs and archive material from a lifetime of railway research."

Railways of Oxford

Railways of Oxford PDF Author: Laurence Waters
Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport
ISBN: 1526740397
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
An authoritative history of the railways of Oxford and how they transformed the United Kingdom, from the mid-nineteenth century to the twenty-first. In Railways of Oxford, historian Laurence Waters looks at the development of services and operations from Great Western’s opening of the Oxford Railway in 1844 through to the present day. This volume covers the development of the railway locally, including the London and North Western ‘Buckinghamshire Railway’ from Bletchley, together with the five local branch lines. The opening of the Great Western / Great Central joint line in 1900 opened up regional travel across the United Kingdom. During the Second World War, the construction of a new junction at Oxford North created a direct link from the Great Western to the London Midland & Scottish Railway branch to Bletchley and beyond. These two junctions turned Oxford into a major railway center, bringing a considerable increase in both passenger and freight traffic. Today, Oxford is as busy as ever, with passenger services to London operated by Great Western Railway and Chiltern Trains, and by Cross Country Trains the South and the North of England.

Great Western Railway Stations

Great Western Railway Stations PDF Author: Allen Jackson
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445670127
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
A lavishly illustrated survey of a wide range of GWR stations.

Branch Line to Cheddar

Branch Line to Cheddar PDF Author: Vic Mitchell
Publisher: Middleton Press (MD)
ISBN: 9781873793909
Category : Railroads
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description