Britain’s narrow gauge railways are host to some of the oldest, most charming, varied and extraordinary locomotives to be found anywhere. This book is a fascinating survey of these appealing engines.
A fascinating account of the British Railways system’s vital role in the defense of the country and support of the Allied forces during WWII. The outbreak of the Second World War had an enormous effect on the railway system in Britain. The ‘Big Four’ companies put aside differences and worked together for the war effort. The logistics of transporting troops during the evacuation of Dunkirk and the preparations for D-Day were unprecedented. Meanwhile, they had to cope with the new and constant threat of aerial bombing. As a result, the railway system effectively served as another branch of the military. At the end of the war, Winston Churchill likened London to a large animal, declaring that what kept the animal alive was its transport system. The metaphor could have been applied to the whole of Britain, and its most vital transport system was the railway. This book brings to light the often-forgotten stories of the brave men and women who went to work on the railways and put their lives on the line.
The 19th-century steam railway epitomized modernity's relentlessly onrushing advance. Ian Carter delves into the cultural impact of the train. Why, for example, did Britain possess no great railway novel? He compares fiction and images by canonical British figures (Turner, Dickens, Arnold Bennett) with selected French and Russian competitors: Tolstoy, Zola, Monet, Manet. He argues that while high cultural work on the British steam railway is thin, British popular culture did not ignore it. Detailed discussions of comic fiction, crime fiction, and cartoons reveal a popular fascination with railways tumbling from vast (and hitherto unexplored) stores of critically overlooked genres.
Railway liveries play an important role in establishing much-valued recognition of the many operating companies through the variety of colors worn by their trains which ply our British railways. These reinforce the pride that their “uniform” bestows. This is demonstrated by the immaculate designs which adorned the Pre-grouping steam locomotives through to the stamp of Network South East which certainly raised the profile of many ordinary commuter trains, at least around London and the Home Counties. Similarly, it is a quality which is especially evident in the ubiquitous all-pervading British Railways blue era, which now features as an essential ingredient in diesel preservation, as also in a multitude of colors and futuristic designs bestowed by the contemporary privatized passenger and freight companies. Furthermore, consider the appeal of “retro” liveries which decorate some of the locomotives hauling charter trains, a trend which reinforces the popularity of liveries which were once merely part of the mundane everyday scene. Any glimpse through the news reviews and photographs published in monthly railway magazines will reveal such a kaleidoscope of colors adorning the locomotives and rolling stock which traverse the UK’s modern and preserved railways. This book endeavors to facilitate a brief overview of some of these liveries in the hope that it will whet the readers’ appetite to explore their own world of railway liveries.
The latest volume in this series that focuses on recent developments on Britain's rail network in Cumbria. This photographic collection looks at the rails of the north before and after the pandemic in all their scenic glory.