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.
This is the first encyclopedia to chart the progress of Britain's railway development. It begins with primitive 17th-century wagonways, fully considers the eras of horse, steam, diesel, and electric traction, and then charts the change from private to public ownership. Finally, it describes in detail the privatizations of the late 1990s. Over six hundred entries by eighty-eight expert contributors provide a comprehensive and unique reference to all aspects of railways.
This is a humourous and well-written account of Bill Aitken's experiences of Indian Railways. Covering every imaginable aspect of the railways' history and current practice, the book combines interesting anecdotes and technical detail to shed light on the railway's vital contribution to Indian culture and the economy.
The development of railways in Britain came in the 1830s as a result of the needs of industry and of a public eager for the novelty and cheapness of rail travel. These early railways were beset by accidents caused by collisions and mechanical failure, and the 1870s produced more disasters than any other decade before or since. On Christmas Eve in 1874 the worst accident in the history of the GWR occurred at Shipton-on-Cherwell when the 10 A.M. from London Paddington to Birkenhead derailed, killing 34 passengers. The fracture of a single tire was enough to cause this catastrophe due to the lack of continuous braking and inadequate communication between the driver and passengers. The authors detail the history surrounding this tragic event using the accounts of eyewitnesses, archive newspaper articles, and reports.
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.
'As a distinguished railway historian [Gordon Biddle] has brought his prolific knowledge and incomparable experience to bear in offering us a railway compendium through which we can recognise, understand and value the outstanding legacy of this railway that is ours.'Sir Neil Cossons, Chairman of English HeritageWhen we think of railways we think of romance and adventure, we think of pioneers, inventors, long-distance travel, holidays, and partings. Our fascination with railways goes back to Victorian times, when rail travel, a revolutionary concept at the time, caught the imagination of a generation ofdesigners, architects, and builders. The legacy the Victorians left behind is vast and can still be seen today all over England, Scotland, and Wales, in the buildings that they built; the stations, from the city to the country; the railway hotels; the signal boxes; the engine and goods sheds; the bridges, viaducts, and tunnels; and thecrossing-keeper's cottages.Twenty years ago 400 railway buildings were either listed or scheduled, now this number is over 2,000. Some of these buildings are now no longer used by the rail industry, their individual histories in themselves interesting, but the majority are still part of the working railway, both the greats,from St Pancras to the Forth Bridge, and forgotten gems, from Elstob accommodation bridge in County Durham to Knucklas viaduct in Central Wales. With the speed of modern train travel, how often do we take the time to appreciate their rich architectural heritage? Unique especially in its illustrative detail, Britain's Historic Railway Buildings provides a comprehensive record of this legacy, from London and the South East to Northern Scotland. Eleven highly-illustrated regional chapters take a fascinating architectural journey along Britain's vast railwaynetwork stopping at over 2,300 structures and sites along the way. The pictorial archive that supplements the text, much of which has never before been published, offers the reader the chance to view the whole range of these outstanding landmarks. Each regional chapter also begins with a detailedmap of the area and a short introductory essay. Each entry within the chapters outlines designers, opening and (where applicable) closing dates and current usage, listing of scheduling information, Ordinance Survey grid reference, history, construction, significant highlights, and relativeimportance in railway history, including contributions - beneficial and adverse - to local environments. To complement the eleven regional chapters, the Gazetteer offers a wealth of additional material. At the front of the book there is a detailed survey of the evolution of structures such as stations, warehouses, and signal boxes; methods of building bridges, viaducts, and tunnels; the great railwayhotels; forgotten buildings such as engine sheds; railway towns and housing; building materials and where they came from. The statutory listing and scheduling process is also explained. At the back of the book there is a detailed record of lost buildings of importance and interest and also analphabetical collection of mini-biographical sketches of the more important railway engineers and architects. An illustrated glossary of architectural terms, a select bibliography, and an index of people are also included at the back of the book. 'The events of October 2001 when Railtrack was placed in Administration and the subsequent deluge of media coverage has almost stifled any opportunity for good news about railways in the United Kingdom. Yet good news does exist, particularly in relation to railway heritage, including buildings,bridges and other structures.'Jim Cornell, Executive Director, The Railway Heritage Trust, Annual Report, October 2002.
