Journal Railway & Canal Historical Society

Engineering the image: the censoring of Samuel Smiles. J. Rly Canal Hist. Soc., 1993, 31 (Nov).
Research showed that the Americans editions were more critical of George Stephenson.

Volume 34

Part 5 No. 185 (July 2003)

Minnis, John. 'A miniature of our National Constitution': the relationship between directors and shareholders in British railway companies, 1847-70. 274-81.
Accounting, some of which was lax, fraud, auditing, local shareholders associations, the Railway Shareholders Association. Specific mention is made to Edward Watkin, the Eastern Counties Railway and the Midland Railway.

Christiansen, Rex. A second GWR bid to reach the Mersey? 308-9.
Proposal, recorded in the Wallasey News of 7 May 1927, by the GWR to take over the Wrexham and Bidston line from the LNER and possible negotiation with the LMS to improve the terminal fascilities at Seacombe

Rowson, Stephen When did the Merthyr Tramroad become the Penydarren Tramroad?. 310-315.
There are many incorrect references to the "Penydarren Tramroad", the correct title for which is the Merthyr Tramroad Company which never changed its name, although the Author traces how the "popular", but incorrect name came into being. Incidentally neither Penydarren nor Merthyr appear in that Aunt Sally: the Oxford Companion to the History? of Railways

Goodchild, John. Working a small urban Victorian railway station: Daisy Field, Blackburn. 316-23.
Condensed from five copy letter books maintained by the stationmasters between April 1883 and December 1890. 3825 letters were examined. There were two station masters during this period: L. Greenhalgh (March 1883 until mid 1886) and W.J. Turner for the remaining period covered by the books. The station was busy during tis period and the station master was responsible for a considerable staff including around fourteen signalmen.

Biddle, Gordon. British railway history: Jack Simmons' last thoughts. 324-7.
Amongst Simmons' papers was an incomplete manuscript entitled A short history of the railways of Great Britain, from the 1590s to 1947, The author of the article, together with John Gough and Michael Robbins, agreed that there was insufficient material to make an attempt to complete it, but some of the Introduction and an Appendix on the Writing of British Railway History are reproduced herein.The Introduction contains a list of twelve essential sources which includes the two volumes by Lewin, the two of Acworth, Mowat's The Golden Valley Railway, but excludes Tomlinson. The Appendix appears to be ruthlessly dismissive of the Oakwood series of histories: "They were easy work for the publisher, the text being accompanies by little pictures (mostly photographs of poor quality) and they were issued in paper covers. In most of them the text comprised a dry little narrative...".

Richard Michael Robbins CBE, 1916-2002. Alan A. Jackson. 329.
Noted that he was bookish to the extent of being worried about the structural stability of his home and his contribution both to the Oakwood Press and latterly to the Oxford Companion..

Part 10 No. 190 (November 2004)

Buchanan, R. Angus. Engineering dynasties in transport history. 654-62.
Some engineers, notably Telford, failed to produce dynasties: according to writer successful ones included the families of Watt, Rennie, Jessop, Trevithick (the family tree should be very helpful to others, notably Rutherford, who appear to become muddled with the complexities of the lesser Trevithicks), Fairbairn, Cubbitt (also a source of muddle elsewhere where Lewis is frequently detached), Stevenson, Stephenson and Brunel. See important letter from David Cubitt and another from Peter Brown. (both V. 35 p. 56).

Dean, Richard. 'The shortest and safest and cheapest way to London': the inception of Manchester's southerly rail connections. 666-74.
Cites original sources: excellent maps, but makes little of revolutionary Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal which was contemporaneous

Volume 35

Part 1 Number 191 (March 2005)

Lee, Pat. Setting the record straight on the perils of delivering a Centenary lecture in celebration of City of Truro achieving 100 mph. 37-42
In part inspired by an article by Paul Binyon in The Times on 22 May 2004 that refered to the carriage of gold bullion on the train and the record was unofficial. Lee is able to dismiss both of these statements and claim (by a re-examination of the data from various sources) that a speed in excess of 100 mile/h was achieved. The actual run took place on 9 May 1904 and was an Ocean Mail Special, which was run at high speed to demonstrate that the GWR could compete with Liverpool and with the LSWR for carriage of the trans-Atlantic mail, and to pressage its timetable improvements to the West of England. Rous-Marten sources quoted are The Engineer for 1904 (13 May, 20 May and 10 June), Rly Mag., 1904 June, 1907, December and 1908 April and comment upon these by James Inglis in GWR Mag., 1922 Novemeber. Contemporary newspaper reports for 10 May 1904 consulted included those in the Western Daily Mercury and Western Morning News. Writer claims that much of evidence was reproduced in Tuplin's Great Western saints and sinners. (1971).

Correspondence. 56-9.
Engineering dynasties.: Cubitt. David Cubitt.
See Vol. 34 p. 654. There is no evidence that Joseph and Jonathan Cubitt were brothers. Joseph was a son of Richard Cubitt (1729?-1800) who married Martha Temple at Worstead in 1746. Joseph was a miller successively at Dilham, Southrepps and Bacton Wood. He was father of [Sir] William and Benjamin Cubitt. Jonathan was a carpenter and joiner whose father was William (1725-1802) a butcher of Swannington and Mary Hall who married at Mattishall in 1747. Their sons included Thomas, William and Lewis. Jonathan had been resident at Buxton (Norfolk) before becoming bankrupt in Yarmouth.
Engineering dynasties.: Cubitt. Peter Brown.
See Vol. 34 p. 654. Questions whether William Cubitt was a Partner in Ransomes of Ipswich.

Part 2 Number 192 (July 2005)

Harry William Parr, 1921-2005. Grahame Boyes. 71.
Obituary notice of significant author and historical researcher, mainly on railways and of industrial archaeology. With Adrian Gray he was responsible for the Life and times of the Great Eastern Railway 1839-1922. (1991). Earlier he had publshed The Severn & Wye Railway (1963) and The Great Western in Dean (1965).

Joy, David. Book publication. 75-8.
Publishing economics. The craft of writing. The importance of a publisher.

Poulter, John. Linear legacies: the disappearance of closed transport routes, as illustrated by the Midland Counties Railway line between Rugby and Leicester.79-85.
Re-use of land for agriculture, housing, industrial estates, nature reserves, landfill, etc. Comparison with Roman roads.

Barnes, Martin. Civil engineering management in the Industrial Revolution. 86-93.
Part of Smeaton Lecture deleivered at Institution of Civil Engineers om 20 July 1999.

Boughey, Joseph. Sixty years of Narrow Boat. 94-9.
An appreciation of Tom Rolt's book and its influence on the restoration of Britain's canals.

Clarke, Neil. Touring England in 1735. 99-101.
Two Cambriadge undergraduates, their tutor (John Whaley) and a govenor set out from London in July 1835 and returned to Cambridge in mid-October. They covered over 800 miles mainly on horseback and commented on roads, hotels, ferries and stately homes.

Lamb, Brian. One canal, five bridges, six roads: how the line of roads was altered by the building of the Peak Forest Canal. 102-9.

Quick, Michael. Mid-Victorian compensation culture. 110-17.
Personal injury compensation to railway passengers following Lord Campbell's Act of 1846.

Jones, Pat. Thorne Boating Dikes and the Stainforth and Keadby Canal. 118-25.

Brown, Peter. Wappenshall Wharf 1835-50, Part 1: The Wharf and the Sutherland Estates, 126-31.
Situated at the junction of the Newport branch of the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal with the Shrewsbury Canal about 2½ miles from Wellington. Wharf was developed by Sutherland Estates to encourage transfer of traffic between the tub-boat system and narrow boats. Part 2 see page 156..

Correspondence
Setting the record straight. Stuart Chrystall. 132-3.
See previous Issue pp. 37-42: .suggeests that City of Truro did just reach 100 mile/h. Cites O.S. Nock's Speed records.
Setting the record straight. Bill Crosbie-Hill. 133.
See previous Issue pp. 37-42. Cites Jim Russell's Pictorial record of Great Western engines (v. 2 p. 12) where he stated that Rous-Martin [sic] had noted that the Atbara class were fast runners and had published details of one achieving 97.8 mile/h down Dauntsey bank two years before the City of Truro record. Unfortunately, the Rly Mag. citation is lacking as is the writer's own recording of 96 mile/h behind the new County 4-6-0 No. 1005 in April 1946 at the same location (which is mentioned in this letter).

Part 3 (No. 193) November 2005

Armstrong, John. Writing for an academic journal. 150-4.
Aims to help members write good quality transport history and have it accepted for publication in an academic journal. The author has had experience of editing one academic journal for more than a decade, and has also been on the other side of the equation, submitting articles to numerous learned journals. There are certain, usually implicit, rules and conventions about academic publishing and this article makes them explicit, so revealing hidden obstacles and discussing tactics to overcome the obstacles and achieve a publication in a learned journal.

Goodchild, John. Railway history in solicitors' papers. 154-5.

From the RCHS Photographic Collection. Stephen Duffell. 155
TT39/34: Menai Bridge station from roadside

Brown, Peter. Wappenshall Wharf 1835-50, Part 2: the trade and the carriers. 156-61.
Part 1 see page 126.

Duffell, Stephen. Clement E Stretton: railway engineer, historian and collector. 162-9.
Considers that Stretton was a man of independent means who was committed to life in Leicester where much of his source material is stored in the Central Library. Duffell noted that Stretton campaigned strongly in defending railwaymen against their employers when they were taken to court for being involved in fatal accidents. For a time Stretton acted on behalf of ASLEF

Priestley, Stephen. The maintenance of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. 170-4.
Inspected by William Baker, Chief Engineer of the LNWR, in 1866 and repairs and improvements followed. A further survey took place under George Jebb, Chief Engineer of the Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Company in 1886. In 1936 the LMS arranged for coal tar to be applied to the structure by W.G. Baeumont & Sons. The British Waterways Board have pursued a more rigourous maintenace regime.

Dow, Andrew. Perceptions and statistics: measuring the LNER's public relations success. 175-7.
Data gathered by George Dow which compared the press response in terms of column inches of the four main line companies. Notes the number of staff employed in the department in London, Edinburgh, Manchester and York..

Boyes, Grahame. Richmond Half-Tide Lock. 178-85.
Opened by the Thames Conservators on 19 May 1894. The sluices were of type designed by F.G.M. Stoner. Includes a concise biography of James Bracebridge Hilditch (1843-1921) the main instigator of this river improvement.

Green, Rodger. The Great Eastern Railway's Woolwich Ferry. 186=93.

Macnair, Miles.  The Patents of William James and William Henry James. Parts 1. Introduction and; 2. Patent 4913 (1824): Hollow cast-iron rails, and their uses. 194-6.

Lamb, Brian. A shooting at Marple Wharf Junction Signal Box. 196-8.
Occurred on 25 June 1921 when the signalman, Edward Axon was wounded

Correspondence. 199

Reviews

Brunel in South Wales, Volume 1: In Trevithick's Tracks. Stephen K Jones. 224pp, 250x170 mm, 100 illustrations, 16 pages of colour plates, paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, 2005, ISBN 0752432362, £17.99. Reviewed by Martin Barnes.
The title of this book, presumably in the interests of brevity and to catch the eye, obscures what it really is. It might accurately have been called 'A wide-ranging account of the origins of the traffic in coal and iron from Merthyr to Cardiff in the early 19th century, how it was handled first by the Merthyr (or Penydarren) Tramroad and the Glamorganshire Canal and later by the Taff Vale Railway, how this railway was designed and.built and the contribution made thereto by I K BruneI, with additional material about the life and work of the said Brunel'. But publishers have not used long titles like that since the early 19th century.
Stephen Jones has produced a tour de force which, let us expect, will be matched by the next two volumes covering, inter alia, the South Wales Railway. The text, illustrations, references and notes, bibliography and multiple indices [indexes] demonstrate that this is the work of a historian of the highest calibre.
Brunel was noted for his reluctance to delegate but, for the Taff Vale Railway, he seems to have risked, uneasily, a lot of authority to his number two, the distractingly named George Bush. Jones is quite sure that Brunel designed the Goitre Coed viaduct, including having the fairly good idea of using hexagonal piers, but probably not much else. The paradox of Brunel's use of the standard gauge on this railway at the same time as he was promoting the broad as so superior everywhere else is mentioned but could have been analysed in more detail.
The two main strengths of this impressive book are that the hard facts of the central subject are put fully into context by the remarkably extensive surrounding material, both textual and illustrative, and that it is a thoroughly good read. A mark of a confident and competent historian, Jones gives full credit and access to his sources.

Canal Maps from the 19th Century. CD, Digital Archives Association, 3 Cedars Way, Appleton, Warrington WA4 5EW, £20 (plus £1.50 p&p). Reviewed by Tony Conder.
This CD contains three treasures from 1830. The first is George Bradshaw's three-map set of England from northwest to southeast. The map has a list of lock sizes, marks their locations and gives heights of pounds above cillievel at Liverpool. It does not cover the east coast or the south west peninsular. John Walker's map and the accompanying text by Joseph Priestley add different details. The Walker map covers the United Kingdom and has a comprehensive survey of mineral deposits. Priestley's 778-page book gives details of tonnage charges, parliamentary acts and building costs. All three sources include rail and tramway information.
The CD comes with Acrobat reader 4.0 and a good set of instructions. The package is easy to use and offers a lot of opportunity to get into the detail of these fine maps and spot the surveyors' original mistakes. This is an affordable way to own scarce items and a very practical way to use them.

The Railways of Nuneaton and Bedworth. Peter Lee. 128pp, A5, 1 map, 198 illustrations, paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, 2005, ISBN 0 7524 3261 3, £12.99. Reviewed by John Boyes.
Nuneaton, centrally located, with neighbouring mineral resources, was a prime site for Victorian railway development. The author pictorially has ably demonstrated its importance. Lying on the old LNW Trent Valley line it provided a junction for LNW and Midland feeder lines between Birmingham, Coventry and Leicester; and each line receives a descriptive chapter. Unfortunately, pre-1950s photographs are scarce so shots oflater main line and industrial scenes predominate, yet these offer a tempting nostalgia of that period. Bedworth as part of the Nuneaton local authority is included. It is a pity that a detailed map of junctions and colliery branches of the 1920s is not provided. The book is a fine record of an area which has maintained its interest over the years.

Nasmyth, Wilson & Co, Patricroft locomotive builders. John Cantrell. 159pp, 234x165mm, 160 photos, 9 maps & drawings, paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill, Brimscombe, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, 2005, ISBN 0 7524 3465 9, £12.99. Reviewed by John Marshall.
During the period when Britain was described as 'the workshop of the world', many thousands of steam locomotives were built for the countries of the 'British Empire' and elsewhere such as Argentina and China. In and around Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow, steam locomotive building became one of the major industries providing employment for thousands of skilled and semi-skilled workers. Notable among these was the foundry of Nasmyth, Wilson & Co at Patricroft. Here the Liverpool & Manchester Railway crossed over the Bridgewater Canal, 4% miles from Manchester. Much of the production was of the famous Nasmyth steam hammers and other heavy machinery which kept the lorks busy when locomotive orders were slack.
A prominent feature of this book is the large umber of locomotive photographs so far unpublished. Many of these were for British railway companies or industrial systems such as collieries. Changes in the management are recorded, with biographical details. As well as a bibliography and an index there is a complete list of all locomotives built at the Bridgewater Foundry including dates and principal dimensions. This is an interesting and useful book of first hand information for the locomotive historian.

Midland Railway: Swansea Vale & branches. John Miles and Tudor Watkins. 92pp, 280x210mm, 161 photographs, 19 figures including maps, hardback, The Welsh Railways Research Circle, 22 Pentre Poeth Road, Bassaleg, Newport LP10 8LL, 2004. ISBN 0 9527267 4 2, £18 (plus £4 p&p). Reviewed by Roger Davies.
The authors and the Welsh Railways Research Circle are to be congratulated upon this pictorial study of the Midland's far-flung outpost in the Swansea Valley. Despite the survival of the Swansea Vale Railway Preservation Society's short line at Upper Bank, so many of the physical remains of the SVR have disappeared through redevelopments and under new roads that this book is of particular value. Apart from the detailed railway scene, the pictures vividly illustrate the notorious ravages of the industrial revolution on the lower Swansea Valley, which are now but a memory under the bland landscaping of today's retail and service parks.
The photographs are almost all of high quality, well reproduced, and the attendant captions and text are informative and well done. The authors state that they are aware of a forthcoming history of the Swansea Vale Railway; it is to be hoped that it will be of the same high standard. In the history of the Midland Railway perhaps a footnote; but in a regional context an important and intricate story in its own right.

The Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway. Keith Turner. 96pp, 235x165mm, 60 photographs, 14 drawings & sketches, 10 large scale maps, 10 copies of documents, paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, 2005, ISBN 0 7524 2791 1, £12.99. Reviewed by Allan Brackenbury.
The 2ft 6in gauge Manifold Valley railway was a product of the enthusiasm for constructing branch lines to open up remote rural areas, following the passing of the Light Railways Act of 1896. It passed through spectacular scenery, from Waterhouses (where it met standard gauge trains from Leek) to Hulme End, 8 miles away, with perhaps only a dozen houses and farms in sight throughout the journey. Even if it was viable when opened in 1904, it could not remain economic once motor transport became reliable and Ecton creamery closed, so its life was less than thirty years.
This book is a new edition of a 1980 work, with more detailed text and with several different photographs. Text and illustrations are well balanced. Subsequent use of the trackbed as a footpath is included. It can be recommended to readers who want to know more about this fascinating railway. But people who already have the previous edition, or another book on the same subject, may not learn much fresh information.

Hopkinstown 1911: a Welsh railway disaster. David J Carpenter. 96pp, 222x140mm, 39 b&w illustrations, paperback, Tempus Publishing, The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2QG, ISBN 0 7524 3250 8, £12.99. Reviewed by Stephen Rowson
The Taff Vale Railway disaster of 23 January 1911 occurred during a particularly traumatic period of Rhondda history. The Cambrian collieries were on stand and the Government had drafted in the Metropolitan Police and the West Riding Regiment to deal with the Tonypandy riots. When the trains collided, these foreign forces dealt with the aftermath. Three miners' representatives, travelling to London, were among the twelve dead; their leader, Mabon, should have been on the train.
David Carpenter does not exploit this drama. Instead, he concentrates on the dead, photographing every grave and recounting the funerals.
There are no track plans to accompany analysis of the accident's causes (signalling errors). Carpenter uses only eight of the many available photographs of the scene; none is interpreted — captions averaging just eight words.
An appendix relates the 1878 collision in the nearby Rhondda cutting (in quite different circumstances) which claimed thirteen lives. We are not treated to a tour of the graves of these unfortunates but, instead, to five pages of images of saplings growing in the now-abandoned railway cutting. Very spooky!

The trail of the serpent: the true story of a notorious Victorian murder. James Gardner. 184pp, 235x 155mm, 17 b&w and 2 colour illustrations, paperback, available from the author at 5 East Way, Lewes, Sussex BN7 1NG, 2005, ISBN 0 9542587 6 2, £9.50 (post free). Reviewed by Philip Scowcroft.
On 27 June 1881 a train drew up at Preston Park Station. In a 1st-class compartment was a blood-stained man, Arthur Lefroy, who claimed to have been attacked. The station officials, then the police, had their suspicions of Lefroy, especially after another man was found dead in Balcombe Tunnel, apparently thrown from a train. Lefroy was medically treated, a police officer accompanied him to his sister's London home, but he then absconded. (The police do not show up well in the case.) When he was eventually traced he was charged with the murder of an inoffensive retired businessman, Gold by name. So began one of the most celebrated Victorian murder cases which ended with Lefroy's execution on 29 November. He was guilty and indeed admitted his crime in an unpublished autobiography recently rediscovered by Mr Gardner, but perhaps he should have gone to Broadmoor rather than the scaffold. Despite an interest in the musical theatre and talent as a writer, he was a Walter Mittyesque figure. A readable, well-researched volume, persuasive in detail.

By Great Western to Crewe: the Wellington to Nantwich and Crewe Line. Bob Yate. 208pp, A5, 157 photographs, 14 maps, paperback, Oakwood Press, PO Box 13, Usk, Monmouthshire NP15 1YS, 2005, ISBN 085361 6396, £13.95. Reviewed by Peter Brown.
The three railways to Market Drayton were built by separated companies, this book covering the two which became part of the Great Western Railway. The first, the Nantwich & Market Drayton (Act 1861, opened 1863), was locally promoted and intended to connect the town to the main railway network. The initiative for the second, the Wellington & Drayton (Act 1863, opened 1867), came from the GWR. The Act which authorised the amalgamation of the GWR and the West Midland Railway gave the vital running powers from Nantwich to Crewe and on to Manchester. Throughout the line's life about three-quarters of the trains were through goods services. One or two trains each way provided local goods services and there were only about six passenger services, one for much of the time including through carriages from Manchester to Bournemouth. The book details the history to final closure in 1967, with particular emphasis on the events up to opening, the services provided, and the locomotives which operated over the route. Other proposed railways to Market Drayton are discussed and there is a chapter of marginal relevance about Tern Hill airfield. The route and its structures, including the GWR's engine shed at Gresty Lane (Crewe), are described, as are the remains.

Middleton Press. 211.
The Middleton Press publishes illustrated accounts of the history, operation and demise of lengths of railway, all of which include reproductions of large-scale as maps of stations, timetables, tickets and other ephemera. These are their recent publications. All are 96pp, 240x 170mm, hardback, Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9AZ, £14.95.

Cornwall Narrow Gauge including the Camborne and Redruth Tramway. Maurice Dart 2005, ISBN 1 904474 56 X
A comprehensive compendium including thirty industrial narrow gauge railways in the Royal Duchy (in alphabetical order from the Basset Mines tramway to the Wheal Remfry China Clay Pit) and five pleasure railways (ditto from the Frontier City and Retallack Adventure Park to the Moseley Industrial Narrow Gauge and Tramway Museum). Given that most of the industrial railways are long gone, the percentage of old pictures is gratifyingly high. The Cornish seem to have had a predilection for acquiring peculiar looking locomotives and setting them to work in distinctive settings.

Branch Lines around Barry: to Cardiff, Wenvoe, Penarth and Bridgend. Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith 2005, ISBN 1 904474500
An attractive mix of well-captioned informative photographs and maps. The images are clearly chosen to depict locations and events but there is much train activity also - a good part of it being post-steam. The book is bang up to date. It covers preparations for the June 2005 reopening of the Vale of Glamorgan line from Barry to Bridgend and also includes a lively section on the successful Barry Steam Railway.

Branch Lines around Avonmouth. Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith 2004, ISBN 1 90447442 X
This volume covers Bristol Temple Meads to Clifton Down, Hotwells to Patchway and Chittening Platform to Ashley Hill. As usual, pictures from the latter days of steam predominate but there are some unfamiliar old ones such as a lithograph of New Passage pier on the opening day and Hotwells in 1870 when that bit of railway was detached from any other but gloried in the scene of the Clifton Suspension Bridge above.

Swindon to Gloucester including the Cirencester and Tetbury branches. Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith 2005, ISBN 1 90447446 2
Middleton Press applies its usual treatment to the quintessentially Great Western main line from Swindon to Gloucester and its branches. The book includes a brief introduction to the lines followed by selected photographs of each station and halt. Extracts from as plans are included for the former, but the exact locations of halts are not always mentioned. The main focus of the brief captions is on infrastructure; locomotives, when they appear, attract little comment.

Oxford to Bletchley. Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith. 2005, ISBN 1 904474 57 8
An interesting line from the start which could have become yet another unremarkable railway byway were it not for a random series of distinctions. For example, Rewley Road Station, the Oxford terminus, the pioneering 1930s DMU experiments, the connection with the Met with trains marked 'Baker Street' setting off from an isolated station in north Buckinghamshire and the huge importance of the line in wartime with massive expansion of facilities at Bicester and elsewhere. All these aspects are well covered in this book, as is the branch from Verney Junction to Banbury, Merton Street.

Hereford to Newport via Caerleon. Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith. 2005, ISBN 1 904474 54 3
The complexities of the evolution of the layout and stations at Hereford are well set down and illustrated. The bulk of the book covers the line south to Newport, well evoking its GWR character, punctuated by a good dose of the LNWR at Abergavenny. A good blend of really old pictures and more recent images.

Part 4 (No. 194)

Compton, Hugh and Faulkner, Alan.  The Cumberland Market Branch of the Regent's Canal. 254-61.

Boyes, Grahame. Early operating practices at Waterloo. 262-3.
John Eustace Anderson claimed to be the oldest Mortlake season ticket holder, having held one since April 1854 to travel to King's College School in the Strand. He made this claim in a series published in the Richmond Herald between 21 December 1907 and 2 May 1908. Tickets were checked at a ticket platform outside Waterloo and then the trains were fly-shunted into the terminus. Another practice observed by the schoolboy was the running of locomotives upon rollers to fill the boilers as pumps continued to be used after the invention of the injector.

Foster, Gill. Canal Boatmen's Missions: an update. 264-70.

Leivers, Clive. The human cost of building Cowburn Tunnel. 271-3.
Cowburn Tunnel was built between 1889 and 1894 and is 3700 yards long. There were many accidents during construction including over a dozen fatalaties. Many of the injured werer taken to the workhouse infirmary in Chapel en le Frith. There was one serious blasting accident, roof falls, but many were associated with the use of horses and steam driven machinery underground. Some of the fatalaties were very young.

Savage, Shelley. A grand canal for East Anglia. 274-7.
John Phillips in A Treatise on Inland Navigation of 1785 sketched the route of a canal from Poplar along the upper River Roding to Braintree and thence meander through Suffolk and throw off canals to Norwich and towards King's Lynn where Phillips did not seem aware that the River Nar had been made navigable.

Jones, Kevin P. The Internet and transport history research. 277-82.

Biddle, Gordon. Sir John Kennaway and the Salisbury-Exeter Railway. 283-4.
Sir John Kennaway owned rhe Escot Estate west of Honiton and demanded a cut-and-cover tunnel to protect the view from Escot Lodge near Ottery St Mary: the railway eventually constructed deviated to the north and built a station at Feniton.

Slater, George. Promoting the Cheshire Midland Railway. 284-5.
George Slater, a miller and corn dealer of Knutsford, wrote his Chronicles of Life and Religion in Cheshire and Elsewhere which was published by Andrew Crombie in 1891. This is a verbatim extract prepared by Pat McCarthy from a copy held in the Cheshire County Record Office. Slater was one of the promotors of the railway from Altringham to Knutsford on 12 May 1862 and onwards to Northwich on 1 January 1863. Sir Henry Mainwaring was the Company's very reluctant chairman.

Dodd, Denis. Boat lifts of the Grand Western Canal.  286-93.
James Green was the engineer of this tub-boat canal which used lifts and an inclined plane. Rge canal struggled financially, but Dodd argues that the lifts worked and must have owed something to James Fussell who exploited a lift on the Dorset & Somerset Canal. The remains of the lift at Nynehead have been subject of an archaeological investigation.

Jones, Pat. Navigation on the River Teme. 294-300.
Considers whether there was ever commercial traffic above Ludlow to Bringewood and the extent of traffic below Ludlow to Worcester where the Corporation erected an electricity generating plant using a combination of water power from the River Teme over Powick Weir and steam. Hydroelectricity was generaated between 1894 and 1950. The site at Powick was unsuitable for steam due to the difficulty of delivering coal.

Macnair, Miles. The Patents of William James and William Henry James: 3. Patent 4957 (1824): Four-wheel drive for road carriages. 301.

Correspondence

Reviews

Part 7 (No. 197) March 2007

Obituary: Rex Christiansen (1930-2006). [Gordon Biddle]. 498.
Reproduced at Christiansen

Christiansen, Rex. From a Railway Historian's Notebook. 499-500.
Journalistic skill exhibited at its highest level: short paragraphs on the Lymington branch (noting its early opening and the proximity of its Town and Pier stations); Christmas Day (the total closure of the railway system thereon as viewed at Perth station and thoughts on the 40 sledges constructed by the promoters of the Lancashire Derbyshire & East Coast Railway to take plans and documents to the snow bound parishes in the Peak District in 1891; the planned amalgamation of the Great Northern and Great Central Railways in 1907 and its rejection by the Railway and Canal Commissioners; filling a junior staff vacancy at Irlam on the Cheshire LInes Committee; and the Dolgelley Mail which left Ruabon at 04.20 every day and required the attention of the station masters in the Dee Valley.

Hodgkins, David. Gladstone and railways, Part 1. 501-8.
William Ewart Gladstone was born in 1809 and died in 1898: he was "probably the greatest Victorian politician and statesman". His father played a major part in the development of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and during his long political career he both used railways and influenced their character.

Wheelhouse, Derek  and Blurton, Paul. Early rail transport in the Biddulph Valley.  509-17.
John Wright's tramway, c1818-c1825; Stonetrough to Congleton Moss railway, c1805-1831; Hugh Henshall Williamson's Falls Railroad, 1800-1847 and Robert Williamson's Stonetrough/Mow Cop Tramway, 1842-1887. Constructed to convey coal from the Biddulph area to Congleton: all were built with wayleaves and used horse haulage. The most recent included a 370 yard tunnel. Remains are illustrated.

Keen, Kenneth. Torksey railway bridge. 518-25.
John Fowler designed a wrought iron tube for a Trent crossing at Torksey, south of Gainsborough for the Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway.

Janes, Brian. Minor railways and the Transport Nationalisation of 1948. 526-9.
A diverse collection from the then extremely active Manchester Ship Canal Railway to the completely moribund Edge Hill Light Railway.

Burrows, Roy. Railway Clearing House Maps & the Late David Wright . 529-31.

Scowcroft, Philip L. Passenger boats on the River Don 1805-60. 532-7.

From the RCHS Photographic Collection. 537.

Rapley, John. Brunel, genius or charlatan? The 'Atmospheric Caper' on the South Devon Railway. 538-43.
The Atmospheric System had inherent limitations imposed by dependence on atmospheric pressure and were the maximum possible pressure on the piston was, in theory, about 14.7 psi, given the slight variations in barometric pressure. Calculations based on this figure give a tractive effort about double that which the pumping engines could economically achieve in practice and this proved to be about 8psi. By flogging the engines which, like BruneI's early locomotives were underboilered and hence by a greatly increased consumption of coal, the vacuum could at best be increased by about 25% if the engines and all other parts of the system were, for once, in good order. The maximum available tractive force was dictated by the cross sectional area of the vacuum pipe. In real life a 22½ inch diameter pipe was the largest that could be accommodated beneath the train using conventional rolling stock suitable for any part of the broad gauge system. Even this would have required major alterations to the track by placing the cross transoms below the longitudinal timbers which carried the rails. The first section of the line from Exeter to Newton had negligible gradients, and if the system could have been made to work it would have been under these favourable conditions. The most difficult section of the South Devon Railway lay in crossing the watershed west of Newton between the valleys of the Teign and the Dart, which could not be avoided other than by a vastly expensive and circuitous route through the South Hams.

Burton, Anthony. Thomas Telford and the Göta Canal. 544-7.

Macnair, Miles. The Patents of W. and W.H. James: 6. Patent No. 5186 (1825): Self-cleaning water-tube boiler. 548.

Two hundred & sixty-five year calendar. 540.

Correspondence . 550-
Indexes and attributions. Gordon Biddle.

Indexes and attributions. Bill Featherstone.

Reviews

Part 9 (No 199) November 2007

Brackenbury, Allan. Race stations in the twentieth century. 630-8.
Special passenger stations only open on race days: Aintree Racecourse; Ashey Racecourse (Isle of Wight); Bromford Bridge; Cheltenham Racecourse; Doncaster St. James' Bridge; Farlington (for Portsmouth Park racecourse); Gatwick Racecourse; Haydock Park; Hedon Racecourse; Keele Park; Kempton Park; Lanark Racecourse; Manchester Racecourse; Newbury Racecourse; Newmarket Warren Hill; Nottingham Racecourse; Paulsgrove Halt; Stratford-on-Avon Racecourse; Tattenham Corner; Waltham-on-the-Wold; Wetherby Racecourse; Yotk Racecourse. Public stations with extra platforms for race traffic: Aintree Central; Aintree Sefton Arms; Ascot; Chepstow; Epsom Downs; Esher for Sandown Park Racecourse; Hampton Court; Killingworth; Lingfield; Plumpton; Pontefract Tanshelf; Redcar Central; Rothbury; Singleton (for Goodwood Racecourse); Westenhanger (for Folkestone Racecourse); Wye. Passenger stations reopened on race days (otherwise closed): Ashton-in-Makerfield (near Haydock Park); Bromfield (for racing at Ludlow); Enthorpe (for Kipling Cotes Racecourse); Lavant (for Goodwood Racecourse); Newmarket Old Station; Pipe Gate (for Woore Racecourse); Sedgefield and Towcester (for Grafton Hunt races).

Guilcher, Goulven. Railway Time. 639-44.
The railways sought to eastablish standard time, but local time persisted in the West Country and in East Anglia, but by 1854 most companies in Great Britain had adopted Railway Time. Dublin Time persisted until 1916 when Greenwich Mean Time was adopted. Safety was compromised by a lack of standard time.

Ross, David. 'A Stagnant Ditch': Robert Stephenson and the Suez Canal Project, 1846-59. 644-55.
The advent of Said and the appearance of de Lesseps put the direct-route canal back on the agenda, but Stephenson's French friends were ousted and he himself was immediately identified as an arch opponent. De Lesseps, not an engineer or a businessman, but a self-professed humanitarian and world improver, was in Stephenson's view an adventurer using other people's money in an unrealistic cause, and, since in the public eye he was very much the British expert on the Isthmus, he felt it a duty to oppose him. Without shifting from the point on which he first chose to plant his case — the lack of difference between the sea levels — he extended his argument into economic feasibility as well.
Stephenson's attitude can thus be shown to be consistent and, in terms of commercial ethics, reasonable, but his presentations of his case are a different matter. He undoubtedly used misleading phrases to give his opinions more weight than they otherwise would have had, or deserved. Right up to 2005 his speeches have led people to believe he had been to Egypt by 1848 if not sooner, and had participated in surveying a canal route. If — as Negrelli came close to doing — the slender basis of his original anti-Canal judgement, and his inferences that he had been over the route, were exposed, he would have been in a difficult position. For those who like their engineering heroes to be pure bronze from head to toe, it may be discomfiting that Robert Stephenson was prepared to shade and economise the truth in the interest of his case, and of his reputation. But any serious assessment of this complex and brilliant man's career and achievement has to take account of the strong defensive trait in his character. His Suez Canal opposition did not add to his laurels, and not just because it was an engineering 'misjudgement'.
A couple of intriguing though hypothetical questions hang in the air: what might he have done if the British Government had favoured the canal scheme? And what would he have done if Talabot' s report had agreed with Negrelli's that the 'direct route' was possible?
In the end he can be most readily accused of a failure of imagination. The Isthmus of Suez ultimately had room for a railway and a canal. De Lesseps's vision of lines of steamers — mostly British — using the canal was right, and Stephenson's prophecy of a sand-choked ditch was wrong. One wonders if it ever occurred to him that in this respect he was occupying the same stance as those establishment engineers in London who had once scoffed at William James's and his own father's vision of a railway over Chat Moss.

Macnair, Miles. The Patents of W. and W.H. James: 8. Patent No. 9473 (1842): Elevated and pneumatic underground railways. 682-3.

Correspondence. 681-
Variations in names. Michael Quick.
Waltham on the Wolds versus Waltham-on-the-Wolds versus Waltham-on-the-Wold:

Reviews
Cassini Historical Maps. Cassini Publishing, Hillsprings, East Garston, Berkshire RG17 7HW, £6.49 each. (Full infonnation can be found at www.cassinimaps.com.) Reviewed by Richard Dean
This is a relatively new venture covering England & Wales which will be of interest to transport historians who appreciate the value of the Ordnance Survey's output of maps over the last two centuries. Each of the 204 Ordnance Survey 'Landranger' 1:50,000 scale maps has been parallelled by an equivalent sheet reproducing earlier OS mapping at the same scale and covering the same area, complete with the National Grid, enabling users to make an easy comparison with the current maps. Present availability covers the 'Old Series' from the first half of the 19th century, and the 'Popular Edition' from the 1920s. The first follows in the footsteps of the David & Charles reproductions, and the volumes issued by Harry Margary, but the second breaks new publishing ground. The printing quality is very good (it was done for the publishers by OS), further enhanced by the slight enlargement from the original one-inch scale, but owners of the previous reproductions of the Old Series will need to decide for themselves whether the added clarity and convenience justifies purchase — the cost is the same as the Landrangers.
There are a number of problems. Changes in survey standards have made it impossible to accurately fit the National Grid to some of the earlier mapping (which the publishers have acknowledged), and there are inconsistencies at many of the necessary joins in the original sheets. Dating of features is difficult, for although the publication dates are given of the component mapping, there is no attempt to show the individual survey dates. That said, there is a wealth of detail here which will repay careful study.
The same publishers are also producing a 'Past & Present' series, each sheet of which shows a particular area in the Old Series, Popular Edition, and current Landranger, together with the Revised New Series mapping of the 1890s. This is useful if your interest is very localised, but is frustrating for the study of extended transport routes.

The Ffestiniog Railway Paintings of Edward Paget-Tomlinson. Philip J Hawkins.  128pp, 172x246mm, 55 colour pictures & plates, 27 b&w drawings and photographs, 2 maps; Landmark Publishing, Ashboume Hall, Cokayne Avenue, Ashboume, Derbyshire DE6 lE!, 2007, ISBN 9781 843063346, £14.99. Reviewed by Martin Barnes.
Students of the history of boats and barges will know the work of Edward Paget-Tomlinson well from Colours of the Cut and The Illustrated History of Canal and River Navigations of 1978, republished by Landmark in 2006. In this book, we find that he was also fond of the Ffestiniog Railway. As the railway's 'Heritage Painting Project', Edward was commissioned to paint 40 scenes in the pre-restoration history of the railway. Each was to depict a scene of which there was no photographic record. He had completed 37 of them before he died in 2003. Plates of them are the substance of this book.
A broad history of the Ffestiniog by Adrian Gray, a biographical essay on Edward Paget-Tomlinson and an account of the Heritage Painting Project precede the paintings themselves. They show Edward the serious artist, not the draughtsman of Colours of the Cut. He was an 'accurate impressionist' like Cuneo but with a much broader view. Here are scenes on the railway with locomotives and trains firmly in their context and sometimes even dominated by it. Here is a Cambrian train at Minffordd in 1899 with an FR train above. The wharves at Portmadoc in 1890 with sailing ships being loaded with slates and, only in the background, The Princess shunting. The Welsh Slate Company's viaduct at Rhiwbryfdir in 1887 with below an FR train and an L&NWR train hauled by a 'Coal Tank'. Tan-y-Bwlch with Russell nursing her wounds after unsuccessfully trying to get through the Moelwyn tunnel. The lengthy, double-headed, 5am Monday morning quarrymen's train near Tanygrisiau in 1891.
Each plate is preceded by a detailed description of the scene and of why it was commissioned. The accuracy of the railway features, of the costumes of the the people, of the horses, ships, vehicles and buildings is impressive. And the depiction of the ever surrounding Welsh mountain landscape is realistically evocative. There will not be another book like this.

Part 10 No. 200 (December 2007)

Ross, David. The first bogie locomotive. 763-7.
It depends how locomotive and are defined, but William Chapman in 1813 is major contender. Notes how William Hedley rode on Chapman's invention; the influence of Horato Allen and John B. Jervis in the United States, and the role played by Robert Stephenson as recorded by Zerah Colburn. The etymology of bogie is considered.

Crosbie-Hill, Bill. Thomas Estcourt's Mound. 759-62.
Possible use of temporary railway to move spoil from cutting on Kennet & Avon Canal to form the Mound, an artificial hill.

Hodgkins, David. The Cromford & High Peak Railway: some questions and answers. 768-71.
Cast iron rails, the extent of double track, John Leonard, passenger carrying and wire ropes.

Dow, Andrew. An iconoclastic word in your ear, if I may. 772-4.
Originally published in Review of the Friends of the National Railway Museum in 2006. Spurred by the title of a review under the heading: 'The man who built the world'. This related to a biography of Brunel: Dow then demolishes Brunel's claim to greatness except in nautical engineering. Amongst Brunel's failures were the broad gauge (which was mirrored overseas), locomotive engineering, and the atmospheric traction system. Moreover, the Great Western Railway did not have to traverse any major obstacles other than the Cotswolds.

Shillito, Carl. 'The Fiery Jack': a short history of the Spital Hill Tunnel, Sheffield. 774-9.
Map shows link between Midland Railway and Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway which was steeply graded (1 in 25) and in tunnel. Opened in November 1846. Limited passenger services. Exchange freight traafic. Rules for working line. Used as air raid shelter in WW". Final closure in July 1947.

Boyes, Grahame. The origins of a modern myth: the loading gauge of the GCR London Extension. 780-2.
Demolition of myth that Great Central London Extension was built to Continental loading gauge (which was not established until 1910) and that Watkin perceived it as part of a Manchester to Paris railway.

Janes, Brian. Lt Colonel Holman F Stephens: founder and manager of model rural light railways. 783-7.
Includes a list of lines: projected, rejected and constructed, but list excludes Southern Heights Light Railway (the one which wandered across some of the maps in the compartments of Southern Electric rolling stock).

Edmonds, Tim. Fallacies and phantoms in Buckinghamshire: a cautionary tale. 788-92.
Criticism of C.J. Wignall's Complete British Railways maps and gazetteer. (1983). Introduction of "Penn Halt" between High Wycombe and Beaconsfield. This led to Michael Harris replicating the error in Steam Days. In 1928 there had been a proposed development at North Loudwater by the Loudwater Estates.

Butterfield, Peter. Beeching was too late. 793-4.
Queries why the main line companies were reluctant to withdraw passenger services during the 1930s when they knew that many were very lighly loaded and revenue from fares was very small. During 1938 the earnings from passenger traffic on the Louth to Bardney line were only £784.

Green, Rodger. Rail too road conversion in the 1930s. 795-804.
Proposal to convert Mid-Suffolk Light Railway into a road.

Gibbins, Edward. Mussolini, railways & myth. 805-6.
"Mussolini got trains to run on time"appears to have no solid foundation in fact.

Butterfield, Peter. Unfair competition? 807-8.
Road versus railway competition for freight traffic during the 1930s and the Square Deal campaign.

Brackenbury, Allan. Preserved railways or new roads? 808-12.
Ministry of Transport action against Alton to Winchester and Westerham lines to save minor road costs. Eventually ministry had to give way as at Bridgnorth on Severn Valley Railway.

Volume 36

Part 6 (No. 206 November 2009)

Humm, Robert. Not in Ottley —1: Philip Phillips and the Forth Bridge. 166-72.
Begins somewhat smugly by noting that Ottley 2719 and 2720 were "inaccurately catalogued" mainly by slight failings in counting plates (one hopes that future sales from a certain bookshop will be discounted in consequence). Notes that Philip Phillips was the son of Joseph Phillips, a contractor, to the Forth Railway Bridge and the subject of an excellent biography by Mike Chrimes in Chrimes (not cited by Humm): sadly Mike has made a mistake by calling the son "Peter"! Some of the material identified by Humm is in the form of albums of photographs where only a very few (perhaps even one or two) were produced and were outwith Ottley's remit. Some of the material noted by Humm should have been recorded by Ottley and one suspects that he missed them due to a mixture of his approach to what was "central railway literature" and to the relatively primitive cataloguing methods adopted by the British Musuem at that time.

Reynolds, Paul. Not in Ottley —2: Thomas Phillips and the Humours of the iron road. 173-7.
Memoirs of a Welsh ticket collector who worked at Carmarthen station. Initial edition had a Welsh title: Difyrion y ffordd haearn..., but there were also editions with English titles which did not appear to reach the British Musuem/British Library.