Anglo-Scottish Sleepers

Anglo-Scottish Sleepers

Author: David Meara

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2018-03-15

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 1445672332

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this book, illustrated throughout, David Meara tells the fascinating story of hundred years of Scottish sleeper services.


Starlight Specials

Starlight Specials

Author: Dave Peel

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2014-08-15

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 1445641747

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A fascinating look at the special Starlight Express overnight train service between London and Glasgow/Edinburgh


Scottish Highland Railways

Scottish Highland Railways

Author: David Tucker

Publisher: The Crowood Press

Published: 2021-01-25

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 1785007939

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Scottish Highland Railways describes eight great journeys by rail through northern Scotland, detailing the history of the lines while travelling along their modern-day routes. In addition, the landscapes, regional history, stations and services available are all described. With over 100 present-day and archive photographs and maps, this book provides the histories of the railways of the east coast, the Grampian region, the highland main line and the Far North, West Highland and Oban, Mallaig and Kyle of Lochalsh lines. A railway company 'family tree' is given and a timeline documenting the many mergers and changes over time. The recent history of these railways in the 20th and 21st centuries is given along with a list of operational stations in 2020 together with passenger usage statistics. There are also details of rail organizations and regulations in Scotland.


Belles and Whistles

Belles and Whistles

Author: Andrew Martin

Publisher: Profile Books

Published: 2014-09-04

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 1782830251

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the heroic days of rail travel, you could dine on kippers and champagne aboard the Brighton Belle; smoke a post-prandial cigar as the Golden Arrow closed in on Paris, or be shaved by the Flying Scotsman's on-board barber. Everyone from schoolboys to socialites knew of these glamorous 'named trains' and aspired to ride aboard them. In Belles and Whistles, Andrew Martin recreates these famous train journeys by travelling aboard their nearest modern day equivalents. Sometimes their names have survived, even if only as a footnote on a timetable leaflet, but what has usually - if not always - disappeared is the extravagance and luxury. As Martin explains how we got from there to here, evocations of the Golden Age contrast with the starker modern reality: from monogrammed cutlery to stirring sticks, from silence on trains to tannoy announcements, from compartments to airline seating. For those who wonder whatever happened to porters, dining cars, mellow lighting, timetables, luggage in advance, trunk murders, the answers are all here. Martin's five journeys add up to an idiosyncratic history of Britain's railways, combining humour, historical anecdote and reportage from the present and romantic evocations of the past.


Confessions of A Steam-Age Ferroequinologist

Confessions of A Steam-Age Ferroequinologist

Author: Keith Widdowson

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2019-10-04

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0750993456

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

ferroequinologist (noun) Someone who studies the 'Iron Horse' (i.e. trains and locomotives). From the Latin ferrus 'iron' and equine 'horse' + -logist As the British steam era drew to a close, a young Keith Widdowson set out to travel on as many steam-hauled trains as possible – documenting each journey in his notebooks. In Confessions of a Steam Age Ferroequinologist, he cracks these books open and blows off the dust. His self-imposed mission, that of riding behind as many Iron Horses as possible prior to their premature annihilation, led to hours of nocturnal travels, extended periods of inactivity in station waiting rooms, missed connections and fatigue. However, any downsides of his quest were compensated by the camaraderie found amongst a group of like-minded colleagues who congregated on such trains. This is a book that no self-respecting ferroequinologist should be without.


Renewing Britain's Railways: Scotland

Renewing Britain's Railways: Scotland

Author: Gordon D. Webster

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2019-08-15

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1445689227

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Gordon Webster examines, in this highly illustrated book, the changes that have been seen on Scotland's railways.


Night Trains

Night Trains

Author: Andrew Martin

Publisher: Profile Books

Published: 2017-02-09

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1782832122

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Night trains have long fascinated us with the possibilities of their private sleeping compartments, gilded dining cars, champagne bars and wealthy travellers. Authors from Agatha Christie to Graham Greene have used night trains to tell tales of romance, intrigue and decadence against a rolling background of dramatic landscapes. The reality could often be as thrilling: early British travellers on the Orient Express were advised to carry a revolver (as well as a teapot). In Night Trains, Andrew Martin attempts to relive the golden age of the great European sleeper trains by using their modern-day equivalents. This is no simple matter. The night trains have fallen on hard times, and the services are disappearing one by one. But if the Orient Express experience can only be recreated by taking three separate sleepers, the intriguing characters and exotic atmospheres have survived. Whether the backdrop is 3am at a Turkish customs post, the sun rising over the Riviera, or the constant twilight of a Norwegian summer night, Martin rediscovers the pleasures of a continent connected by rail. By tracing the history of the sleeper trains, he reveals much of the recent history of Europe itself. The original sleepers helped break down national barriers and unify the continent. Martin uncovers modern instances of European unity - and otherwise - as he traverses the continent during 'interesting times', with Brexit looming. Against this tumultuous backdrop, he experiences his own smaller dramas, as he fails to find crucial connecting stations, ponders the mystery of the compartment dog, and becomes embroiled in his very own night train whodunit.


Bradley's Railway Guide

Bradley's Railway Guide

Author: Simon Bradley

Publisher: Profile Books

Published: 2024-10-10

Total Pages: 533

ISBN-13: 1782834141

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

'A lifetime of railway love distilled into a most beautiful volume' Lucy Worsley 'Our railway history could not have been told more palatably or more nourishingly' David Kynaston 'The most attractive, comprehensive and easily digestible history of the oldest railway system in the world' Michael Palin In 1825 the Stockton & Darlington company strode into history with the opening of the world's first public steam railway. What the S&DR had pioneered soon picked up speed, transforming lives and landscapes, connecting far-flung corners of the nation and creating its own distinctive environments and working worlds. This ambitious and lavishly illustrated volume brings the story of Britain's railways to life, spanning two centuries of achievement and change. Full of colour and incident, it is an exhilarating journey through time and space, revisiting favourite themes and introducing unfamiliar stories and places. With original and engaging entries on everything from dining saloons to collecting dogs, wartime salvage efforts and the iconic Rail Alphabet, Simon Bradley gives George Bradshaw's famous 19th century guide a run for its money in this fresh and distinctive chronicle of the making of Britain's railways.


A World History of Rail

A World History of Rail

Author: Jeremy Black

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2023-12-15

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1398121029

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Is it possible to overestimate the impact of the railway in history? Jeremy Black analyses that impact from the beginning to today. And of course it's not all a triumph. The network of the Congo today operates on three gauges run by separate companies; and a lot of it doesn't work.


The Great Scuttle: The End of the German High Seas Fleet

The Great Scuttle: The End of the German High Seas Fleet

Author: David Meara

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2019-05-15

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 1445687011

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Marking the 100th anniversary of the scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow, David Meara draws on archive material - including a previously unpublished first-hand account - to bring the story to life.