Books

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British Isles Railway Atlas
Hunter Publishing
Manufacturer: Allan (Ian) Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0711020485

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European Railway Atlas: British Isles
M. G. Ball
Manufacturer: Specialist Marketing International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0711024073

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Abc British Rail Pocket Atlas
M.G. Ball
Manufacturer: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ABC British Railways Atlas (Ian Allan Abc)

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ABC British Railways Atlas (Ian Allan Abc)
M. G. Ball
Manufacturer: Allan (Ian) Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

A new edition of a handy pocket guide to the railways of Britain. It provides line drawings of all the railways in the British Isles including Ireland, with detailed enlargements for the major urbans centers. Information given includes passenger and freight lines. passenger stations, major freight terminals, preserved railways and proposed lines.

Scandinavia & Eastern Europe (European Rail Atlas Series)

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Scandinavia & Eastern Europe (European Rail Atlas Series)
M. G. Ball
Manufacturer: Hunter Publishing (NJ)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 071103172X

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Rail Atlas Great Britain and Ireland
S Baker
Manufacturer: Ian Allan Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Probably one of the best-selling railway titles of all time, the new edition is an essential work of reference recording in map form the full extent of the contemporary railway industry. Up to date with all the latest Channel Tunnel developments and work on the West Coast modernization plan.

British Railway Atlas, 1947 (Railway Atlas)

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British Railway Atlas, 1947 (Railway Atlas)

Manufacturer: Ian Allan Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Signalling Atlas and Signal Box Directory

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Signalling Atlas and Signal Box Directory
Peter Kay
Manufacturer: P.Kay
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Atlas of British Railway History
Michael J. Freeman
Manufacturer: Croom Helm, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer

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TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer
Railway Publications
Manufacturer: Allan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.......2007-02-19

As this book is advertised for sale in America I can only assume that it has some prospect of finding purchasers in America; and in that case a few remarks by way of a review may be of assistance or interest to that community.

What the volume contains is 45 pages of maps showing the railway network of Great Britain (i.e. excluding Northern Ireland) as it was in 1923, plus an index of the stations named with grid-references. The significance of the year 1923 is that in that year the plethora of small railway companies was grouped into four large concerns. The compilation and drafting must have called for considerable patience, and it has all been carried out with no small skill. The profusion of railway lines in many parts of the country, particularly in and around the major cities, must have made clarity difficult to achieve. Adroit use of contrasting colours and types of lines to distinguish the pre-grouping companies' routes makes the maps surprisingly easy to read, and where the nodal points are particularly dense and complex the most congested areas are exploded into larger-scale presentations.

A few routes that had already gone by 1923 are included for completeness, but some are omitted. The number left out is so small that I wish the draughtsmen had gone the whole hog and just given us the lot. There was, for instance, a light railway serving Findhorn in north-eastern Scotland, and I wonder how many among even the most obsessive enthusiasts for this topic have ever even heard of it. In Britain itself a fascination with the railway network of yore is a national phenomenon, as the enormous literature of nostalgic writing and photography from a large range of publishers, generalist as well as specialist, eloquently testifies. But in America?

The network was always characterised by over-enthusiasm in the original business projections, and many of the lines shown in this book should never have existed. A great many more were culled in savage pruning and rationalisation exercises, first in the 30's and then again in the 60's. Not all of this was wise even at the time, and the chronic overloading of Britain's roads has sent a lot of passengers back to the rails, which in their turn are now overloaded too in many areas, while many rural regions are left virtually without public transport now that the lines in the countryside have largely gone. In some cases there is nothing that can now be done, much as we might like to reopen routes. There was, for instance, a particularly interesting example of early electrification from Bury near Manchester to Holcombe Brook. The area could badly do with its rail link now, but the track-bed has been built over. However in Scotland 20 or so years ago outstanding management and leadership was shown by Chris Green in reopening certain lines, and sooner or later something similar is going to have to be done in England so far as I can see.

This book is mainly for the flourishing market in railway nostalgia, quite obviously. The market flourishes in the world's cradle of railways, and who in America is going to be interested I have no way of knowing. My best wishes to any and all of this admirable little book's readers.

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