The Railway

The Railway PDF

Author: Andrew Dow

Publisher: Wharncliffe

Published: 2014-10-30

Total Pages: 1156

ISBN-13: 1473841070

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Never before has a comprehensive history been written of the track used by railways of all gauges, tramways, and cliff railways, in Great Britain. And yet it was the development of track, every bit as much as the development of the locomotive, that has allowed our railways to provide an extraordinarily wide range of services. Without the track of today, with its laser-guided maintenance machines, the TGV and the Eurostar could not cruise smoothly at 272 feet per second, nor could 2,000-ton freight trains carry a wide range of materials, or suburban railways, over and under the ground, serve our great cities in a way that roads never could. Andrew Dow's account of the development of track, involving deep research in the papers of professional institutions as well as rare books, company records and personal accounts, paints a vivid picture of development from primitive beginnings to modernity. The book contains nearly 200 specially-commissioned drawings as well as many photographs of track in its very many forms since the appearance of the steam locomotive in 1804. Included are chapters on electrified railways, and on the development of mechanised maintenance, which revolutionised the world of the platelayer.

Train Tracks

Train Tracks PDF

Author: Gayle Letherby

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-08-25

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 1000323617

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This book provides an in-depth exploration of trains and train travel. Letherby and Reynolds have conducted extensive research with all those concerned with trains, from leisure travelers and enthusiasts to railway workers and commuters. Overturning conventional wisdom, they show that the train has a social life in and of itself and is not simply a way to get from A to B.The book also looks at the depiction of train travel through cultural media, such as music, films, books and art. The authors consider the personal politics of train travel and political discussion surrounding the railways, as well as the relationship trains have to leisure and work. The media often paints a gloomy picture of the railways and there is a general view that the romance of train travel ended with the steam locomotive. Letherby and Reynolds show that this is far from the case.

Cost-effective Maintenance of Railway Track

Cost-effective Maintenance of Railway Track PDF

Author: R. A. Vickers

Publisher: Thomas Telford

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9780727719300

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By far the greatest proportion of the total cost of maintaining the infrastructure of a railway arises from the track, Modern trains are lighter, travel faster and are much easier to derail than before. Therefore it is vital that track is maintained adequately.This volume shows how railways can be kept running using the minimum necessary maintenance, taking into account the environmental conditions and the type and volume of traffic using the railway.

British Railways in the 1960s

British Railways in the 1960s PDF

Author: Geoff Plumb

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2019-04-30

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 147386979X

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A “profusely illustrated” and “impressively informative” look at the end of the steam locomotive era on one of UK’s Big Four railway lines (Midwest Book Review). After the Second War, Britain’s railways were rundown and worn out, requiring massive investment and modernization. The Big Four railway companies were nationalized from 1948, and the newly formed British Railways embarked on a program of building new Standard steam locomotives to replace older types. These started to come on stream from 1951. This program was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselize and electrify many lines and so the last loco of the Standard types was built in 1960 and the steam locomotives had been swept entirely from the BR network by 1968. This series of books, The Geoff Plumb Collection, is a photographic account of those last few years of the steam locomotives, their decline and replacement during the transition years. Each book covers one of the former Big Four, the Southern Railway, London Midland & Scottish Railway, Great Western Railway and London & North Eastern Railway, including some pictures of the Scottish lines of the LMS and LNER. Though not a complete history of the railways, the books bring a sense of occasion to the last run of a locomotive type or a stretch of line about to be closed down. Pictures are of the highest quality that could be produced with the equipment then available, but they do reflect real life and real times. In simple terms, a look at a period not so long ago but now gone forever. “An evocative collection of views of the twilight of BR steam.” —Railway Modeller