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Books Ca - Ch
CAIRN VALLEY
LIGHT RAILWAY Moniave to Dumfries
by Ian Kirkpatrick |
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Today it is hard to believe that a railway once ran by the secluded banks of
the Cairn water, which flows between the village of Moniaive and Dumfries.
But the Cairn Valley Light Railway did exist, although like many other rural
branches it was short lived, opening in 1905 and closing barely 45 years
later in the face of competition from the motor bus, car and lorry. The
terminus of the line, Moniaive is certainly an appealing place. A trim
village on the old main road from Galloway to Edinburgh, its narrow streets
of rose-fronted cottages and the surrounding countryside of rolling hills
and tumbling burns have always proved inviting to visitors. Yet it would
stretch even the most fertile imagination to consider that a railway would
ever have been viable to such a quiet out-of-the-way spot along such a
sparsely populated route. The Cairn Valley line was one of the last to be
built by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. However, the reason why the
little branch to Moniaive ever existed was not some vision of a bright new
age,
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but rather
a late result of the ‘railway mania’ of the Victorian period when a rail
connection was considered essential to ensure the economic and physical
growth of any self-respecting town or village. The full story of the line is
told here.
The book is to A5 format and consists of 96 pages
including 84 photographs and plans etc. It has a full laminated colour card
cover with a square-backed spine. |
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LP217 |
ISBN 0 85361 567 5
ISBN 978 0 85361 567 5 |
£ 8.95 |
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CALEY TO THE COAST -
Rothesay by Wemyss Bay
by A. J. C. Clark |
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Railways have an innate fascination for many local
historians, they played an important part in shaping the communities and
environment we inherited from the 19th century. The Wemyss Bay line is a
good example of this. But this particular railway's role in land transport
is complemented, and largely explained, by its place in the equally
evocative story of the development of Clyde ferry services. In bringing
these two elements together, and relating them so clearly to their local and
national context, Archie Clark has crafted a book with a broad appeal both
to students of transport history and to those with a more general interest
in the development of the west of Scotland.
As the author is able to remind us from his
personal involvement in the restoration of the magnificent terminal at
Wemyss Bay, some of the history of the line is very recent.
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It is barely a
decade since serious consideration had to be given to cutting the branch
short because of the conflicting financial demands of maintaining a modern
public transport network and preserving the railway's architectural
heritage. Fortunately this threat is now behind us,
and the railway to Wemyss Bay continues to perform its traditional function of maintaining an
essential link with the Rothesay ferry. Indeed, the terminal building and
the linked pier and station are a firm reminder that the concept of
integrated transport is not a modern invention. The branch's wider role, as
part of the Strathclyde Passenger Transport network, is not simply rooted in
history. Its continuing evolution is symbolised by the replacement of the
original Blue Trains and new stations on the line.
The book is to A5 format, casebound with a
gold-blocked spine, printed end papers, it consists of 320 pages which
include 200 photographs, maps plus the author's superb architectural plans
and it is printed on art paper throughout. |
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OL119 |
ISBN 0 85361 580 2
ISBN 978 0 85361 580 4 |
£ 25.00 |
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SIR SYDNEY CAMM - From Biplanes &
'Hurricanes' to 'Harriers'
by J E Chacksfield |
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Sydney Camm’s greatest
achievement was, undoubtedly, the creation of the Hawker ‘Hurricane’
fighter, although there are those who place this accolade on the ‘Hart’
biplane of 1929, which spawned a series of designs for the RAF in the
1930s and financed the expansion of the Sopwith empire. However, the
‘Hurricane’, which during the Battle of Britain shot down more enemy
planes than the combined scores of all other means, whether air-, sea- or
land-based, is the aircraft generally associated with Camm. It helped to
turn the tide in that crucial conflict of the Battle of Britain in 1940
and enabled us to continue on the path to victory in 1945.
Camm had a patron who realized his
potential and used it to full advantage, this was T.O.M. Sopwith. |
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Sopwith,
of the same generation as Camm, was the complete opposite of him in
background. Coming from a wealthy family, he could indulge in his passion
for speed - motorbikes, cars and racing yachts before turning to aviation.
Sopwith bought an aircraft and learnt to fly in 1910, and by 1913 he had
begun to build his own designs. One of the acknowledged pioneers in
British aviation, Sopwith recognized the design genius of Sydney Camm.
With Camm’s design skills and Sopwith’s business acumen Sopwith’s company
grew, and was by then renamed the H.G.Hawker Engineering Company (later
Hawker Siddeley).
Sydney Camm went on from his wartime
design success to enter the jet age with the ‘Sea Hawk’, followed by the
classic ‘Hunter’ and was preparing to see the ‘Harrier’ into its
production phase when he died in 1966. Camm was by all accounts sometimes
a rather difficult person to work with. Sopwith is recorded as saying: ‘He
was a genius - but quite impossible’. |
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The book is to A5 format, 128 pages with 96 illustrations. It is printed
on high quality art paper throughout, with a laminated colour card cover
with square-backed spine.
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X97 |
ISBN
978 0 85361 698 6 |
£ 10.95 |
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CARDIFF'S ELECTRIC TRAMWAYS
by David Gould |
Cardiff’s Tramways were always self-sufficient, never subsidised
from rates, and generally managed to make a profit. It was clearly one of
the most successful transport undertakings in Britain; and there is no
doubt that Cardiff was very much the poorer once the last tram had run
into the depot on the 20th February, 1950. This new edition is to A5
format with square-backed Linson cover, art paper throughout, 136 pages,
90 photographs/ plans, and a pull-out route map.
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LP81 |
ISBN 0 85361 487 3
ISBN 978 0 85361 487 6 |
£ 8.95 |
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CARRYING COALS
to DUNSTON, Coal & the Railway
by Ernest Manns |
Carrying coals to Newcastle has long been proverbially
regarded as a pointless exercise, but nevertheless virtually all the coal
which came from Newcastle and Tyneside had to be carried to the River Tyne
itself before it could be exported. The waggonways and railways which
carried the coal to the shipping ports on the river were an essential link
in the transport of coal from the collieries to london, the main market for
Tyne coal.
Dunston-on-Tyne, until recently a major port on the river, has a continuous
record of railway activity, largely for the transport of coal, for more than
350 years. The history of the railways of Dunston and the Wickham/Pontop/Tanfield
region of Co. Durham illustrates the way in which the railway fostered and
maintained the growth of industry and trade throughout Victorian times and
until the mid-20th century when coal and steam were the primary source of
energy. |
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The coal trade, in developing the railway
to overcome its local transport problems, produced a transport system which
was itself to become a major industry and change the social, commercial and
industrial life of the world. The story concludes with a look at
preservation at the Tanfield
Railway and Beamish North of England Open Air Museum.
The book is to A5 format, consists of 112 pages of art paper with more than
50 photographs, maps etc. It has a laminated glossy cover with a square
backed spine. |
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LP216 |
ISBN 0 85361 560 8
ISBN 978 0 85361 560 6 |
£ 8.95 |
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CASTLEMAN's CORKSCREW including The
Railways of Bournemouth & Associated Lines Volume One: The
Nineteenth Century
by B L Jackson |
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Castleman’s Corkscrew was the sobriquet given to the Southampton &
Dorchester Railway because of its circuitous route, partly dictated by the
principal towns of the period and the restrictions placed upon its route
through the New Forest. Originally conceived as a railway between
Southampton and Dorchester with proposed westward extension towards Exeter
and an independent branch to Weymouth. It is the story of the
determination of the early railway promoters inspired by Charles Castleman
who took on the might of two major companies, the broad gauge Great
Western Railway and the standard gauge London South Western Railway, both
striving for domination in the West of England, in the ‘Gauge Wars’.
Also
examined are the many proposed schemes both feasible and impracticable to
bring other railways to the area in particular to the ports of
Southampton, Poole and Weymouth.
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The involvement in the Wimborne, Poole
and Bournemouth area of the Somerset & Dorset Railway was to have a
profound effect on future development. |
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The meteoric rise of Bournemouth from obscurity to a high class
holiday resort by the turn of the century was to change the importance
of railways in the area, by 1874 two branches off the Southampton &
Dorchester line, the Ringwood, Christchurch & Bournemouth Railway, and
the Poole & Bournemouth Railway were serving the growing town. This
resulted in further schemes to provide the area with improved
facilities resulting in the Bournemouth direct line via Sway, and the
Holes Bay curve to form a direct line to Bournemouth and Weymouth,
thus virtually completing Dorset’s railway map by the turn of the
century, the railway development of Bournemouth being explained in
detail. These developments also saw the demise in the status of
Wimborne, once the busiest station in Dorset and the reduction of part
of the original main line between Lymington Junction and Hamworthy
Junction to secondary status, to be known to generations of railwaymen
as ‘The Old Road’.
The history of the railways of this area has never been explored in
such detail before, the development of the railways and the social
changes in the Victorian era making compelling reading.
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Contents
Charles Castleman and his Family
A Railway for Dorset
The Politics of the Railway Age
Construction Commences
Open for Traffic and Amalgamation
Expansion, Shipping Services and Branch
Lines
The Dorset Central, Somerset & Dorset and
Poole & Bournemouth Railways
The Ringwood, Christchurch & Bournemouth
Railway
General Progress 1877-1886:
The Southampton & Dorchester
The Great Awakening
The Direct Line and Improvements in the
Bournemouth Area
The Final Developments of the Victorian Era
Locomotives of the Victorian Era
The Weymouth Branch and Dorchester
Extension Plans
The Eling Tramway and the Poole Harbour
Tramway |
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A5
format, 272 pages with 215 illustrations and is printed on high
quality art paper. It has a glossy colour card cover. |
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OL144A |
ISBN
978 0 85361 666 5 |
£ 15.95 |
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CASTLEMAN's CORKSCREW including The
Railways of Bournemouth & Associated Lines Volume Two: The
Twentieth Century and Beyond
by B L Jackson |
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The second volume of
Castleman’s Corkscrew, the sobriquet given to the Southampton & Dorchester
Railway because of its circuitous route, takes the story through the 20th
century in which the use of the central section of the original route
declined and the new section of main line from Brockenhurst to Hamworthy
Junction via Bournemouth rose to prominence in what was known as the
golden years of railways.
A full account of that period is followed by the difficult years of World
War I and the turbulent times through the 1920s and 1930s when many
economies and changes were made including the closure of the line from
Ringwood to Christchurch. A number of new works were undertaken before the
onset of World War II put further pressure on the railway.
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The
nationalisation of the railways in 1948, and the later Beeching report
which resulted in the closure of part of the original route known as the
‘Old Road’, and the general reduction of services are all covered, as is
the electrification to Bournemouth and the then unique push-pull operation
to extend the service to Weymouth. Individual chapters describe the
architecture along the line and the signalling, followed by the extension
of electrification to Weymouth and other factors that have brought the
line into the 21st century.
The history of the railways of this area have never been recorded in such
detail before, their rise and decline together with the many social
changes of the 20th century make compelling reading.
The book is to A5 format, it
consists of 320 pages and includes more than 300 illustrations. It is
printed on high quality art paper throughout and is perfect bound with a
laminated colour card cover and square-backed spine.
See Book Review |
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OL144B |
ISBN
978 0 85361 686 3 |
£ 19.95 |
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CATERHAM RAILWAY
by Jeoffry Spence
LAST FEW COPIES AVAILABLE - Order now to avoid disappointment |
120 pages of text including 56 photos and 9 line drawings all on art
paper. Large foldout map. A5. Two-colour Linson cover.
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OL66 |
ISBN 0 85361 325 7
ISBN 978 0 85361 325 1 |
£ 4.95 |
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CHANNEL TUNNEL AND ITS
HIGH SPEED LINKS
by
Nicholas
Comfort |
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The Channel Tunnel and the
high-speed railways now connecting to it in Britain, France and Belgium
between them represent the most formidable civil engineering achievement of
the 20th and early 21st centuries. The tunnel has provided a long-overdue
connection between Continental Europe and its principal offshore island, and
has already proved its value, if not always quite in the way its promoters
intended. It is now established as an essential means of conveying lorry
traffic between Britain and the Continent, and has proved relatively
successful in generating rail passenger traffic and rather disappointing in
encouraging rail freight, which it was assumed would become more competitive
than the rail ferries that preceded the tunnel. Promoters of a tunnel over
the centuries had envisaged it having a geopolitical impact, but they could
not have foreseen its role as a route to Britain for asylum-seekers and
illegal immigrants as a great movement of populations began out of eastern
Europe, the Middle East and Asia at the close of the second millennium. The
story has turned out to be extremely complex and diverse. |
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The concept of a Channel
Tunnel, and its implications for Britain and its railways, is a fascinating
one, and we are fortunate that at various stages in the author’s life he has
been close to the project. At school he shared a desk with the son of Deryck
Abel, one of the leading campaigners for a tunnel during the 1950s. As a
Lobby correspondent with the Daily Telegraph the author monitored the
political manoeuvrings that led to the adoption of the Eurotunnel scheme,
and the detailed Parliamentary examination of the Channel Tunnel Bill. As a
co-author with Bronwen Jones of the book The Tunnel: The Channel and Beyond
he visited the tunnel construction sites just as work was beginning. Again
wearing his journalist’s hat, he followed closely the construction of the
tunnel, being on the first press trip through it in March 1991 and on
another occasion sharing a helicopter with Sir Alastair Morton. He was on
the first Eurostar to Paris in October 1994 as a guest of European Passenger
Services, and has in various guises - including a spell as a lobbyist for
London & Continental Railways (LCR) - kept a close eye on the promotion of
the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. As consultant on European presentation to the
Department of Trade and Industry, he was to become a frequent - and
satisfied - Eurostar traveller to Brussels. And as special adviser to the
Secretary of State for Scotland, was closely involved in efforts to end the
disruption of tunnel freight traffic by asylum-seekers, because of its
disastrous effect on Scotch whisky exports!
The ongoing development of the
Channel Tunnel Rail Link is covered in detail as this enormous civil
engineering project continues to progress towards the new international
terminus at St Pancras. The railway is set to play a major role in Britain’s
staging of the Olympics in 2012.
The book consists of 256 pages
printed on art paper throughout with a fold-out map. The book is illustrated
with more than 100 photographs, 90 of them reproduced in colour. There are
also 16 maps and plans, six of these are reproduced in colour. |
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OL138 |
ISBN 0 85361 644 2
ISBN 978 0 85361 644 3 |
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LES CHEMINS DE
FER DE LA BAIE DE SOMME
by Philip Pacey
avec
la collaboration de Roland Arzul, Guy Lenne et Geoffrey Nickson |
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Le Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme (CFBS) est devenu en moins de deux
décennies l’un des premiers réseaux touristiques français par sa
fréquentation et sa notoriété. Implanté dans un site géographique
exceptionnel (la Baie de Somme a récemment rejoint le club très fermé des
«plus belles baies du monde», où elle côtoie celles d’Along, de Rio et de
Sydney), constituant un réseau complet reliant cinq agglomérations au
moyen de deux lignes, rassemblant une collection unique de matériels
roulants historiques, seul chemin de fer touristique en France à disposer
d’un embranchement portuaire, le CFBS possède aussi une longue histoire
qui n’avait encore jamais fait l’objet d’un ouvrage. Cette lacune est
aujourd’hui comblée: paru en 1999 en langue anglaise, le livre de Philip
Pacey vient d’être traduit en français pour le plus grand plaisir des
amateurs de l’Hexagone.
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En 176 pages illustrées de 170 photos, cartes et
plans, l’auteur retrace les premiers pas, la croissance, le déclin et la
résurrection du « Réseau des Bains de Mer », caractérisé de 1887 à 1972
par un double rôle de transport des estivants et de service à l’économie
locale.
S’appuyant sur d’importantes recherches effectués dans les
archives départementales et techniques, l’auteur (par ailleurs membre
actif de l’Association CFBS) apporte de nombreux éléments sur la période
des deux guerres mondiales, la mise en service des autorails et l’essor de
l’exploitation touristique du réseau, qui constitue désormais l’un des
pôles du tourisme en Picardie. |
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X67F |
ISBN 0 85361 590 X
ISBN 978 0 85361 590 3 |
Euro 20:00 |
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