Didcot Steam Apprentice

Didcot Steam Apprentice PDF Author: Patrick Kelly
Publisher: Working Lives S.
ISBN: 9781857943108
Category : Didcot (England)
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description
This title describes the technicalities of the work and the hardships as well as lighter moments enjoyed by the apprentices, against the backdrop of the gradual run-down of steam on the Western.

Schoolboy, Servant, GWR Apprentice

Schoolboy, Servant, GWR Apprentice PDF Author: David Wilkins
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750983337
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
Alfred Plumley, son of a coachman, was born in 1874 in Somerset’s Mendip Hills. Written in his old age, this memoir of his youth was discovered in an auction sale. In it, Alfred vividly describes his country childhood and first job as a serving boy at the grand house on the hill above his village. At age 16, Alfred decides to improve his prospects by ‘going on the railway’ and is sent to a tiny village station on the Somerset coast. He quickly comes to love his new life and, undeterred by an unhappy temporary posting to the grim and chaotic engine yards of Bristol, ends up spending forty-five years as a GWR employee. Alfred writes charmingly, and always with the authentic voice of a West Country lad. His memoir has been edited by David Wilkins who adds just the right amount of detail to place the story in its proper historical context.

An Introduction to Great Western Locomotive Development

An Introduction to Great Western Locomotive Development PDF Author: Jim Champ
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473877857
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 314

Book Description
The first thought, when contemplating a new study of the Great Western Railway locomotive fleet, must surely be to ask what can there be left to say? But there is no single source which gives a general introduction to the Great Western locomotive fleet. There are monographs on individual classes, an excellent multi-volume detail study from the RCTS, and superb collections of photographs, but nothing that brings it all together. This work is intended to provide that general introduction.The volume begins with a series of short essays covering general trends in design development, whilst the main body of the volume covers individual classes. For each class there is a small table containing some principal dimensions and paragraphs of text, covering an introduction, renumbering, key changes in the development of the class and information on withdrawal.The volume concludes with appendices covering the development and types of standard boilers, the various numbering schemes used by the GWR, the arcane subject of locomotive diagrams and lot numbers, and a short reference on the many lines the GWR engulfed.The majority of illustrations are new profile drawings to a consistent format. Described as sketches, they are drawn to a consistent scale, but do not claim to be scale drawings. Much minor equipment has been omitted and the author has certainly not dared to include rivets! Although most are based around GWR weight diagrams, they are not simple traces of the original drawings. Detail has been added from other sources, components copied from different drawings and details have been checked against historical and modern photographs. One must also bear in mind that steam locomotives were not mass produced. Minor fittings frequently varied in position and changes were made over the locomotives' lifetimes. Nevertheless, this collection of drawings provides a uniquely consistent view of the GWR locomotive fleet.

Great Western Castle Class 4-6-0 Locomotives - The Final Years 1960- 1965

Great Western Castle Class 4-6-0 Locomotives - The Final Years 1960- 1965 PDF Author: David Maidment
Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport
ISBN: 1399095374
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 186

Book Description
The author’s second volume about the Great Western’s classic express locomotives covers their final six years in British Railways service. In 1960 the Castles, many now modernized with double chimneys and 4-row superheaters, were still in charge of most of the Western Region’s expresses, but by the summer of 1963 their regular express work was limited to the London – Worcester route. Their declining numbers in the last couple of years covered special summer and relief trains, parcels and freight work, deputizing for failed or unavailable diesels and a flurry of excursions and railtours where their prowess could still be demonstrated. The author worked and lived alongside them in these years and the book includes much of his own personal experience on the footplate, on their trains and on shed. The book recaps briefly their first 25 years and covers their history, operation and performance in their final years and is copiously illustrated including over 100 color photographs.

Great Western, Grange Class Locomotives

Great Western, Grange Class Locomotives PDF Author: David Maidment
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526752026
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
The renowned British railroad historian delivers “a well-illustrated account of the rationale behind Collett’s construction of this 80 strong class” (West Somerset Railway Association). English railway engineer George Jackson Churchward proposed a 5ft 8in wheeled 4-6-0 for mixed traffic duties in 1901 and it was seriously considered in 1905, but it took until 1936 before his successor, Charles Collett, realized the plan by persuading the GWR Board to replace many of the 43XX moguls with modern standard mixed traffic engines that bore a remarkable likeness to the Churchward proposal. David Maidment has written another in his series of “Locomotive Portfolios” for Pen & Sword to coincide with the construction of a new “Grange” at Llangollen from GW standard parts to fill the gap left by the total withdrawal and scrapping of one of that railway’s most popular classes—to their crews at the very least. As well as covering the type’s design and construction, the author deals comprehensively with the allocation and operation of the eighty locomotives and in particular has researched their performance and illustrated it with many examples of recorded logs from the 1930s as well as in more recent times. As in previous volumes, the author has added his own personal experiences with the engines and has sourced more than 250 photos, over 40 of which are in color. “Superbly researched . . . another extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to . . . British Railroading History collections.” —Midwest Book Review “Granges worked off-region quite widely, so this is not just a book for the copper-capped chimney brigade; enthusiasts for whom these capable machines are favorites will definitely want this volume on the bookshelf.” —Railway Modeller

Railmotor

Railmotor PDF Author: Robin Jones
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780857041227
Category : Locomotives
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
March 2011 saw the appearance of a 'fossil' steam locamotive, rebuilt in all its original 1908 glory, which has now rewritten the history books. Great Western Railway steam railmotor no. 93 is now arguable one of our greatest steam era survivors. This book provides detailed information about the train.

World Railways of the Nineteenth Century

World Railways of the Nineteenth Century PDF Author: Jim Harter
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801880890
Category : Engraving
Languages : en
Pages : 584

Book Description
With its gallery of over 360 striking and unfamiliar images and extensive historical text World Railways of the Nineteenth Century invites readers to experience an unparalleled glimpse into the world of nineteenth-century railroading.Peter Skinner, Foreword
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