Download or read book Gresley A4 No 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley written by Julian Riddick and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Gresley s Master Engineer Bert Spencer written by Tim Hillier-Graves and published by Pen and Sword Transport. This book was released on 2023-11-30 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The great and the good rarely, if ever, accomplish all they wish to achieve without the able assistance of many skilled men and women. To have a very capable person beside you acting as guide, confidant and adviser is essential. Even better when it is someone with a depth of knowledge equal to, or even better than your own. If all these skills can be combined in one trusted, assistant so much the better. To a leader such a person may be valued ‘beyond rubies’, because they have the ability to take ideas, add something and help make them a reality. For Herbert Nigel Gresley, CME of the LNER, Bert Spencer was just such a man. As Gresley triumphed his faithful, introverted and highly talented assistant remained resolutely in the background playing an unsung yet key role in the development of Gresley’s outstanding Pacifics and his many other memorable locomotives. For sixteen vibrant years Spencer sat beside his greatly admired leader witnessing and participating in all that happened adding much to an emerging legend that still resounds with us today. Here, for the first time, is Spencer’s fascinating story, much of it in his own words. This was made possible by the thoughts and memories he recorded in letters to friends, papers he wrote for the Institution of Locomotive Engineers, official documents and much more. All this has been edited together to produce a unique and important personal narrative of his life and work.

Download or read book The A4 Pacifics After Gresley written by Ronald Hillier and published by Pen and Sword Transport. This book was released on 2023-09-30 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In their book ‘Gresley’s Silver Link’ the authors analyzed the evolution of the A4s Gresley’s and their service up to Gresley’s death in 1941. This book takes this compelling story from the early years of the war up to their demise in the 1960s After four years of service pulling the LNER’s most prestigious trains the A4s took on a more utilitarian role and for six years worked hard to support Britain’s war effort. From this they emerged bowed, but unbeaten, although in an extremely jaded condition. Once restored they took up where they had left off in 1939 and did exceptional service for the rest of their days. With the help of previously unpublished material the authors analyze the second phase of the A4s careers, first as LNER engines, then, from 1948, under British Railways management. Without a diesel or electric fleet of engines to replace them they entered a second golden age of fast running in the ‘50s. Then in the ‘Swinging Sixties’ they faced, as some thought, a premature end as part of a much delayed modernisation programme. Until withdrawn from service they continued to astound their footplate crew and performed exceptionally well, even when maintenance standards had slipped and their condition had deteriorated. They were thoroughbreds and have become a fitting memorial to the master engineers who produced and sustained them for 30 years or more.

Download or read book Gresley s Silver Link written by Tim Hillier-Graves and published by Pen and Sword Transport. This book was released on 2023-03-23 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gresley’s A4 Pacifics are arguably the most famous locomotives ever built, a status cemented by Mallard’s record breaking run on the 3rd July ‘38. And yet only a year later the glamorous ‘streaks’ seemed likely to be cast into obscurity by the coming of another world war. So, for only four exhilarating years they were allowed to flourish as their creator had intended and in that time captured the imagination of railwaymen and public alike. With the help of previously unpublished material the author analyses the complex evolution of the A4s - a project that began in 1911 when Gresley was appointed as Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Northern Railway. It is a story with many strands to consider – war, peace and war again, engineering and art, politics and business, recession and social change, the growth of the media and consumerism, the struggle for professional reputations and a growing, deeply damaging international rivalry. All these elements are captured in the story of the A4s in the heady days before conflict ended their brief golden age and Gresley’s life came to an end.

Download or read book Gresley and Stanier written by John Bellwood and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book History of the East Coast Main Line written by Robin Jones and published by The Crowood Press. This book was released on 2017-02-28 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the mid-nineteenth century the East Coast Main Line has been one of the major routes from London to northern England and to Scotland. It has seen some of the greatest achievements in the railways, most notably the 'Flying Scotsman' becoming, in 1934, the first locomotive in the world to exceed 100mph and the 'Mallard' in 1938 claiming the as-yet-unbroken world speed record for steam locomotives of 126mph. The East Coast Main Line not only made history by facilitating an ever-faster link between two capital cities, it also provided an international stage for Britain's engineering marvels, inspiring many generations of schoolboys and adults alike. That was to continue after the end of the steam era on British Railways, with diesel and then electric traction setting a series of new records over the route. This new book looks at how the London-Edinburgh line became the world's fastest steam railway and how its proud and unique heritage is appreciated and celebrated today more than ever before. Superbly illustrated with over 300 colour and black & white photographs.

Download or read book British Steam Pacific Power written by Keith Langston and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2013-09-19 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pacific, collectively a name applied to steam locomotives with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement is perhaps more commonly associated with express passenger engines but that is not the whole story, there were also Pacific Tank Engines. The LNER is famously associated with their streamlined Gresley A4 Pacific locomotives and that most celebrated of locomotives, Flying Scotsman. The new build Pacific Tornado has raised the profile of the 4-6-2 type to even greater heights. The LMS produced powerful Pacific locomotives to a Stanier design; whilst the Southern Railway constructed Bullied air smoothed 4-6-2 engines. The GWR, who built Britains first Pacific type, actually entered the BR era without a 4-6-2 type on their stock list! However Riddles included 4-6-2 engines in his multi regional BR Standard range. The locomotive specifications are illustrated and presented in a manner which will appeal equally to enthusiasts, model makers and railway historians.

Download or read book A Life on the Lines written by R H N Hardy and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-20 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During much of his early career, from 1944 through to the early 1960s, Richard Hardy took hundreds of pictures of life on the railways and the men he knew and worked with on a daily basis, using his trusty Brownie 620 box camera. These unique behind the scenes images form a fascinating and hugely evocative portrayal of Britain at the height of the era of steam, during the time of the 'Big Four', and after 1947 when the sprawling nationalised network known as British Railways came of age. The second edition contains many new unseen photos which capture the railways in wartime, providing a valuable social record of the nation at war. In addition there is a sequence of rare photographs of French engines, railways and railwaymen, offering a superb contrast to the British rail network (it quickly becomes evident that the British rail system ran on tea, whereas the French system ran on wine). Great characters are the unifying theme of the pictures, and they include famous figures associated with the railways, such as the poet John Betjeman. This wonderfully illustrated book sets Richard's personal photographs and text alongside a carefully collated selection of ephemera, artworks and photographs drawn from the National Railway Museum in York. Collectively these images and artefacts tell the stories of the great brotherhood of railwaymen, brilliantly evoking the speed, heat and dust of the footplate.

Download or read book British Steam Locomotives Before Preservation written by Malcolm Clegg and published by Pen and Sword Transport. This book was released on 2020-07-30 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: British Steam Locomotives Before Preservation, covers the history in pictorial form of steam locomotives that are now preserved as part of the national collection. Those which can be found in private collections and the ones which adorn the various heritage railways which operate throughout Britain. The book looks at each subject both in its working life and during its subsequent preservation. The pictorial content covers a wide swathe of Britain during the years before the heritage locomotives, were earmarked for preservation.

Download or read book Steam Heritage 1972 1985 written by David Knapman and published by Pen and Sword Transport. This book was released on 2023-06-01 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is over fifty years since the main line steam revival began in October 1971 with the return to steam by 6000 King George V, thanks to the efforts of Peter Prior and the help from the British Railways Board. This is not the whole story, in that the preservation movement was developing and beginning to mature, as more preserved railways opened throughout the Country. These developments took place fifty years ago, and subsequently, are forming their own history. The period covered in this book reflects on times when main line steam travel and preserved railways developed and matured into the steam operations we experienced as we entered the twenty first century. This book contains color images from the author's collection of large format slides, using over 200 pictures with informative captions to describe the scenes depicted, in chronological order. The enormous work of volunteers in developing the preservation movement cannot be underestimated, because without those efforts, there would be no history to record. This is a salute to the volunteer movement.

Download or read book Mallard written by Don Hale and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2019-09-02 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just over eighty years ago on the East Coast main line, the streamlined A4 Pacific locomotive Mallard reached a top speed of 126mph – a world record for steam locomotives that still stands. Since then, millions have seen this famous locomotive, resplendent in her blue livery, on display at the National Railway Museum in York. Here, Don Hale tells the full story of how the record was broken: from the nineteenth-century London–Scotland speed race and, surprisingly, traces Mallard's futuristic design back to the Bugatti car and the influence of Germany's nascent Third Reich, which propelled the train into an instrument of national prestige. He also celebrates Mallard's designer, Sir Nigel Gresley, one of Britain's most gifted engineers. Mallard is a wonderful tribute to one of British technology's finest hours.

Download or read book Steam Nostalgia in The North of England written by Paul Hurley and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2017-01-15 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steam Nostalgia in the North of England is a pictorial story of British Railways in the north-west of England in those heady days when steam ruled the rails.

Download or read book Shed Side in South Lancashire and Cheshire written by Kenn Pearce and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2012-07-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1950s and 1960s south Lancashire and Cheshire was criss-crossed by a web of railway lines, servicing the various needs of local industries. The region was a haven for railway enthusiasts who pursued the hundreds of steam workhorses based at British Railways depots in ‘chemical towns’ such as Warrington, Widnes, Wigan and Sutton Oak, besides Southport and Northwich. While these facilities appeared less glamorous than larger counterparts in Liverpool or Manchester, the stories of the engines, trains and the men who were based at the depots in these towns was no less fascinating. Shed Side in South Lancashire and Cheshireprovides a fascinating portrait of the daily operations of the freight and passenger trains of the region during the final decade of Britain’s steam era. It evokes a period of grimy, metal-clattering, smoke-filled industry, and of an era forever etched in our industrial heritage.

Download or read book After the Victorians written by A. N. Wilson and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The distinguished historian A.N. Wilson has charted, in vivid detail, Britain's rise to world dominance, a tale of how one small island nation came to be the mightiest, richest country on earth, reigning over much of the globe. Now in his much anticipated sequel to the classic The Victorians, he describes how in little more than a generation Britain's power and influence in the world would virtually dissolve. In After the Victorians, Wilson presents a panoramic view of an era, stretching from the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 to the dawn of the cold war in the early 1950s. He offers riveting accounts of the savagery of World War I and the world-altering upheaval of the Communist Revolution. He explains Britain's role in shaping the destiny of the Middle East. And he casts a bright new light on the World War II years: Britain played a central role in defeating Germany but at a severe cost. The nation would emerge from the war bankrupt and fatally weakened, sidelined from world politics, while America would assume the mantle of dominant world power, facing off against the Soviet Union in the cold war. Wilson's perspective is not confined to the trenches of the battlefield and the halls of parliament: he also examines the parallel story of the beginnings of Modernism-he visits the novelists, philosophers, poets, and painters to see what they reveal about the activities of the politicians, scientists, and generals. Blending military, political, social, and cultural history of the most dramatic kind, A.N. Wilson offers an absorbing portrait of the decline of one of the world's great powers. The result is a fresh account of the birth pangs of the modern world, as well as a timely analysis of imperialism and its discontents.

Download or read book Southern Steam January July 1967 written by Alan J. Goodwin and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2018-01-30 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the beginning of 1967 the writing was clearly on the wall for Southern Steam, with the intention of eliminating it altogether on the 18th June of that year. From the 2nd January, with the Brush type 4s working many main line trains including the Bournemouth Belle, steam was reduced to thirteen departures from Waterloo, three of which were in the early hours.From the 3rd April this was further reduced to just five day and three night time departures. However, by this time it was realized that due to late delivery of the new electric stock, the deadline for the demise of steam was put back to the 9th July and an interim timetable introduced from 12th June.Using information gathered from many sources, Countdown to Extinction chronicles the events of 1967, with the final five weeks in detail, including events that formed the background to the time.

Download or read book Railway Centre York written by David Mather and published by Pen and Sword Transport. This book was released on 2022-06-20 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient city of York has been closely associated with railways since their conception and promotion by the ‘Railway King’, George Hudson. Its impressive station and engine sheds have played host to the elite of East Coast Main Line traction as well as a wide variety of ‘locals’. The major stabling point of York North shed, coded 50A was home to a diverse collection of steam locomotives as well as welcoming visiting engines from the wider network. As such it attracted interest from enthusiasts not only of steam power but later on as an important diesel depot, finally closing but later to be reborn as the National Railway Museum. Constructed in 1877 it was the largest railway station in the world. Legendary expresses have called at the platforms under the imposing curved glass and iron roof, now a Grade II* listed building. Today’s ‘flyers’ race between London and Edinburgh at speeds unheard of in steam days while cross-country services also bring visitors keen to explore York’s historic and cultural heritage. Yet the sight and sound of steam traction is still a major attraction in this modern era, with crowds flocking to see preserved locomotives at the head of the trains which regularly grace these famous tracks. David Mather has brought together a collection of his images which represents York’s railway heritage from its earliest days through to the present and which shows the city to be still justified in claiming the title ‘Railway Centre’.

Download or read book Sixties Spotting Days Around the Scottish Region written by Kevin Derrick and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2016-09-15 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kevin Derrick looks back at locomotive-spotting days around the Scottish region in the 1960s.