Buy this book on-line HARRIS, MICHAEL: : British Main Line Services: IN THE AGE OF STEAM 1900-1968UK.YEOVIL,SOMERSET.OXFORD PUBLISHING CO.,1996. ISBN 0860935361.
UK,small Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn. NMINT/NFINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Scenic,pictorial, colour decorated dw/dj with 3 colour photographs to rear wrap; with negligible shelf-wear to bottom edge and minimal light creasing to top edge with a small closed tear to head of spine/backstrip - no other nicks or tears present.Top+fore- edges bright and clean - no thumbing - contents tight and near pristine. Publisher's,unblemished,plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate
plain yellow endpapers.UK,small Qrto (approx 10" tall x 7.50" wide)HB+dw/dj,1st edn,6-224pp includes b/w photographic illustrated title page,contents list,an author introduction,19 chapters,profuse b/w train/locomotive+scenic photographs throughout and an index.
During the steam age some time honoured express passenger trains became a familiar and much-loved feature of British life, their names well known to many,even today:
the 'Flying Scot', the 'Cheltenham Flyer', and the 'Golden Arrow',to name just one from each of the 'Big Four' railways.
What was interesting though was why some services were particularly honoured,for example with named trains and special stock, while others were neglected.There were often special reasons of prestige, competition and local business and political interest for the way that railway passenger services developed and for the patterns of service that were maintained.
Sometimes this led to particular cities, towns and ports receiving much better services than other,similar destinations.
In looking at the heyday of steam railways there is a certain fascination in the variety and complexity of cross-country passenger trains,such as those that linked
Birkenhead with Dover,and Aberdeen with Penzance.
After WW2 big changes came with the development of business travel and peak summer traffic.
These served to alter some trains and timetables that had survived remarkably unchanged from the end of the 19thC. British Main Line Services is the first book to detail the many changes in passenger services over the years,along with the commercial and operating policies that influenced their development.The high point of the steam age in Britain was probably 1913,the author contrasting this period with what followed.The story concludes with the last steam-worked main line service on BR (British Railways), between London,Waterloo and Bournemouth and the final vestiges of steam in the North West in 1968.The more important trains were given names,some of which became well known to the general public and conveyed a romantic image of rail travel that is unknown today: the 'Night Scotsman',the 'Cornish Riveria',the'Irish
Mail',the 'Atlantic Coast Express',the
'Night Ferry',the 'Thames-Clyde Express' and the 'Silver Jubilee' to name a few.
This book will be of interest to railway enthusiasts,transport and local historians,and for the modeller it provides an invaluable reference for the various sections of line and the stock and locomotives used at any particular time.
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