Robin Jones Bücher

Through more than 200 colour illustrations and a lively and informative text, Robin Jones provides the ideal guide to this much visited yet little known glory of England.

The steam railway was the backbone of theVictorian age,the bridge link between the Industrial Revolution, theBritish Empire and the modern age.As railways rapidly evolved from being small localconcerns serving mines and factories into main linesshrinking travelling times firstly throughout Britain andthen the rest of the world, the scramble was on forlocomotive engineers to produce more powerful, versatileand reliable locomotive types to suit every purpose.As the national rail network came together, rival companiescompeted to produce faster locomotives to claim agreater share of potential trade.There were the greatRaces to the North to see who could reach Scotland inthe shortest time from London, which produced steamicons like Patrick Stirling's legendary Great NorthernRailway singles.'Elsewhere, smaller locomotives made a huge impactin industry, allowing sprawling private railway systems toserve colliery, ironmaking and quarrying complexes.Themid-19th century pioneering introduction of steam onlines like the Festiniog and Talyllyn railways opened upmany new possibilities in the field of narrow gauge,hitherto the domain of horse traction.By the end of theVictorian era, the earlier locomotivestypified by gleaming brass steam domes, no cabs,huge stovepipe chimneys and enormous single drivingwheels had given way to what we immediately recogniseas modern' steam locomotive types - some of whichwere so successful that they lasted into the final decadeof British Railways steam in the 1960s.Not only that, but by the 1890s, steam locomotiveswere being built for tourism and leisure purposes, asevidenced by the Snowdon Mountain Railway and SirArthur Heywood's pioneering miniature railways.Expert Robin Jones looks at the engines that madeVictorian Britain's railways the envy of the world. In morethan 60 images and with a sharp and incisive text,Victorian Steam is the ideal brief guide, in Halsgrove's newcollectible, pocket-size format.