Steam Trains: The Magnificent History of Britain's Locomotives from Stephenson's Rocket to BR's Evening Star

Most people are under a misapprehension: the Rocket was not the first steam engine. Quite a few were built before it, but Stephenson’s engine was the first successful steam locomotive. Colin Maggs tells the story of the steam engine, from pre-Rocket days, to British Railways building the Evening Star—the last main-line locomotive—through to the preservation movement and the new-build locomotives of extinct classes such as the Tornado. In this comprehensive history, Colin Maggs, one of the country’s foremost railway historians, tells of other, perhaps less well-known aspects of the history of steam in Great Britain. The first railway lines, the activities of the early railway companies, the design and manufacture of faster and faster engines and the lives of the men and women who drove the industry. These and other fascinating stories from the age of steam are all revealed in this accessible book, illustrated with over 150 photographs and period ephemera, many in color.

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Steam Trains: The Magnificent History of Britain's Locomotives from Stephenson's Rocket to BR's Evening Star

Most people are under a misapprehension: the Rocket was not the first steam engine. Quite a few were built before it, but Stephenson’s engine was the first successful steam locomotive. Colin Maggs tells the story of the steam engine, from pre-Rocket days, to British Railways building the Evening Star—the last main-line locomotive—through to the preservation movement and the new-build locomotives of extinct classes such as the Tornado. In this comprehensive history, Colin Maggs, one of the country’s foremost railway historians, tells of other, perhaps less well-known aspects of the history of steam in Great Britain. The first railway lines, the activities of the early railway companies, the design and manufacture of faster and faster engines and the lives of the men and women who drove the industry. These and other fascinating stories from the age of steam are all revealed in this accessible book, illustrated with over 150 photographs and period ephemera, many in color.

16.95 Out Of Stock
Steam Trains: The Magnificent History of Britain's Locomotives from Stephenson's Rocket to BR's Evening Star

Steam Trains: The Magnificent History of Britain's Locomotives from Stephenson's Rocket to BR's Evening Star

by Colin Maggs MBE
Steam Trains: The Magnificent History of Britain's Locomotives from Stephenson's Rocket to BR's Evening Star

Steam Trains: The Magnificent History of Britain's Locomotives from Stephenson's Rocket to BR's Evening Star

by Colin Maggs MBE

Paperback

$16.95 
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Overview

Most people are under a misapprehension: the Rocket was not the first steam engine. Quite a few were built before it, but Stephenson’s engine was the first successful steam locomotive. Colin Maggs tells the story of the steam engine, from pre-Rocket days, to British Railways building the Evening Star—the last main-line locomotive—through to the preservation movement and the new-build locomotives of extinct classes such as the Tornado. In this comprehensive history, Colin Maggs, one of the country’s foremost railway historians, tells of other, perhaps less well-known aspects of the history of steam in Great Britain. The first railway lines, the activities of the early railway companies, the design and manufacture of faster and faster engines and the lives of the men and women who drove the industry. These and other fascinating stories from the age of steam are all revealed in this accessible book, illustrated with over 150 photographs and period ephemera, many in color.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781445699110
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Publication date: 02/15/2020
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Colin Maggs is one of the country's foremost transport and engineering historians and has written more than 100 books as well as innumerable magazine articles. He has also made several TV and radio appearances. In 1993 he received the MBE for services to railway history.

Table of Contents

1 Why Railways Were Developed and How the Steam Locomotive Was Invented 7

2 Locomotives Before the Rocket; the Important Move from Plate Rail to Edge Rail 15

3 The Rocket; Rainhill Trials; Why the Rocket Was so Good 23

4 Early Railways in Great Britain 31

5 Early Rolling Stock and How It Developed; How the Railway Affected Life in Britain 55

6 Signalling 93

7 Railways in Late Victorian Times 97

8 Narrow Gauge, Industrial and Light Railways 115

9 The Heyday of the Steam Railway, 1900-1914: the Rise and Fall of the Steam Rail Motor 123

10 Principal Pre-Grouping Railways 141

11 The First World War and Its Aftermath 165

12 Speed in the 1930s 183

13 The Second World War 193

14 Nationalisation; the Steam Railway Declines; Strikes; Closures 205

15 The Massive Preservation Movement 213

Select Bibliography 217

Index 218

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