The Southern Handbook

The Southern Handbook PDF

Author: David Wragg

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2017-08-01

Total Pages: 455

ISBN-13: 0750985062

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The Southern Railway may not have been the most glamorous of the ‘Big Four’ companies that emerged from the grouping of 1923, but it was the great innovator. In the 1930s the Southern pioneered the first main-line electrification and created the largest electrified suburban railway network in the world. It was also one of the few to offer regular departures and the first to run true international services, introducing the ‘Night Ferry’ through-trains from London to Paris using special ferries. Forming part of a series, along with The GWR Handbook, The LMS Handbook and The LNER Handbook, this new edition provides an authoritative and highly detailed reference of information about the Southern Railway.

Alfred Raworth's Electric Southern Railway

Alfred Raworth's Electric Southern Railway PDF

Author: Peter Steer

Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport

Published: 2022-05-05

Total Pages: 703

ISBN-13: 1526778424

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The Southern Railway between 1923 and 1939 was the only British company to carry out a sustained programme of electrification which became known as the Southern Electric. Unlike many recent projects, each incremental step was completed on time and within budget. This successful project was more impressive as it was achieved during a period of economic stagnation (including the ‘great depression’) and despite government disapproval of the method of electrification. The driving force behind this endeavor was the railway’s general manager, Sir Herbert Walker, but at his side was his electrical engineer, Alfred Raworth, the man one journalist described as an ‘electrification genius’. Alfred Raworth’s career began working with his father the eminent consulting engineer and entrepreneur, John Smith Raworth. Following the collapse of his father’s business Alfred joined the railway industry and devised an ambitious and innovative electrification design. This was discarded when the railways of southern England were ‘grouped’ into the Southern Railway after which he took responsibility for the implementation of the electrification schemes. With Walker’s retirement in 1937, those who continued to support steam traction took the policy lead. A marginalised Raworth retired but was later to witness the fruition of many of his discarded ideas.

The Southern Since 1953

The Southern Since 1953 PDF

Author: Michael Baker

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Published: 2021-07-11

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13:

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A photographic journey of the ever changing railway scene of southern England stretching from Cornwall to the Kent Coast, served from 1953 to the present day by the Southern Region and its successors. When our story begins steam west of the Portsmouth man line still reigns supreme whilst much of the rest of the network is served by Southern Electric. Many of the trains at work in 1953 were of pre\-1939 origin, some even dating back to the first decade of the 20th century, although the influence of Oliver Bullied’s revolutionary semi\-streamline pacifics and high capacity suburban electric multiple units pointed to the future. By 1967 diesel would replace steam, and electrification would spread, whilst many less well used lines in Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall would close. Electrification had begun in the London area in the early 1900s, expanding to the Kent, Sussex and east Hampshire coasts, in the process creating the greatest main line electrified system in the world: this would continue down to today.

Mail by Rail - The Story of the Post Office and the Railways

Mail by Rail - The Story of the Post Office and the Railways PDF

Author: Peter Johnson

Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport

Published: 2022-11-30

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 1526776162

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Railways have been used for the carriage of mail since soon after the Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened in 1830, the development of the first travelling post offices following, enabling the Post Office to achieve maximum efficiencies in mail transportation. As the rail network grew the mail network grew with it, reaching a peak with the dedicated mail trains that ran between London and Aberdeen. The Post Office also turned to railways when it sought a solution to the London traffic that hindered its operations in the Capital, obtaining powers to build its own narrow gauge, automatic underground railway under the streets to connect railway stations and sorting offices. Although construction and completion were delayed by the First World War, the Post Office (London) Railway was eventually brought into use and was an essential part of Post Office operations for many years. Changing circumstances brought an end to both the travelling post offices and the underground railway but mail is still carried, in bulk, by train and a part of the railway has found a new life as the Mail Rail tourist attraction. Author Peter Johnson has delved into the archives and old newspapers to uncover the inside story of the Post Office and its use of railways to carry the mail for nearly 200 years.

Classic British Steam Locos

Classic British Steam Locos PDF

Author: compiled from Wikipedia entries and published byby DrGoogelberg

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2012-06-11

Total Pages: 570

ISBN-13: 1291079734

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do you want to know everything on steam locos, how they work? Read about the technology and lots of steam locos like the flying Scotsman. Compiled from Wikipedia pages and published by dr Googelberg.

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