The Reshaping of British Railways is a piece of railway history every dedicated enthusiast will want in their collection. Bradshaw's Guide has given birth to a wave of nostalgia for our Victorian and Edwardian railway systems. The Reshaping of British Railways, another facsimile which will fascinate train buffs, is the document that decimated these systems forever. With the British Rail company's failure, by the early 1960s, to stem the network's huge annual losses, the government turned to Dr Richard Beeching. He was to save money by recommending the cutting of redundant routes and services. His two reports, The Reshaping of British Railways (1963) and The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes (1965), were published by the British Railways Board in 1965, and offer a fascinating snapshot of our nation's railways. In the first part of this historic facsimile, Dr Beeching identifies the 2,363 stations and 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of railway line for closure - over 50% of all stations and 30% of route miles. The second part recommends a small number of major remaining routes for significant investment. Well documented nationwide protests resulted in the saving of some stations and lines, but the majority were closed as planned and Beeching's name is to this day associated with the mass closure of railways and the loss of many local services in the period that followed. Now, for the first time, this iconic piece of railway history is available in its entirety, complete with the original tables and maps of routes deemed fit for closure.

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 This program was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselize and electrify many lines and so the last loco of the Standard types was built in 1960 and the steam locomotives had been swept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

Take a journey of discovery and explore the top 50 things to see and do on Great British railways. Find the rarest train routes, learn about the railways' people and animal friends, marvel at iconic stations, whizz over amazing bridges, steam through tremendous tunnels and visit the most spectacular railway sights. You can: - Ride across dramatic viaducts. - Visit Britain's busiest railway hub and its least-used station. - Stop at Britain's highest station. - Meet the railway cats and dogs.This lively, interactive book will inspire children – and adults – to seize the moment and explore the wonderful world of Great Britain's railways. Written by Vicki Pipe with additional fun facts from Geoff Marshall, the dynamic duo behind the YouTube channel's All the Stations and authors of The Railway Adventures.

The first railway chemical laboratory was opened in 1864 by the London & North Western Railway at Crewe, and the last ones lost their direct link to the rail industry on their privatisation in 1996. Whatever their expertise, every railway chemist or 'stink' has been asked the same question: "What do you actually do"? That is precisely the question this book attempts to answer. It covers many aspects of the work, from a BR chemist going to San Francisco to blow up a water melon to declaring an empty coal wagon a confined space; from whitewashing a passenger train, in service, in a couple of seconds to questioning, on chemical grounds, the mental state of the chairman of British Rail; from gassing weevils to setting fire to a canal in Derby. British Railway Stinks tells the unusual, astonishing and sometimes downright hilarious story of the railway 'nuts' who decided what exactly the 'wrong kind of leaves' were.

The Sunday Times Bestseller A glorious insight into Britain over the last 150 years - its history, landscape and people - from the window of Britain’s many and magnificent railway journeys.

This lecture note focuses on two railway maps of Britain. It details the important railway lines and six regions into which British Railways have been divided – the Eastern, London Midland, North Eastern, Scottish, Southern and Western Regions. The note also discusses the four companies which existed before the railways were nationalized – the London Midland and Scottish, the London and North Eastern, the Great Western, and the Southern Railways.