Journal Railway & Canal Historical Society
"early volumes"

Hugh Compton and Kingsley Belsten. The Carrington Canal. 1966

Harry Parr. Source materials — local newspapers. 1966

Harry Parr. Source materials — university theses. 1966.
Cites Aslib Index of Theses

Hunt, W.M. The Horncastle Navigation engineers. 1979 (March)

Norris, John The Stratford & Moreton Tramway. RCHS 1987. 56 pp, 8 photo. illus. 7 maps & plans, Reviewed by J. Ian Langford.  J. Rly Canal Hist. Soc., 1988, 29 (March), 192. 
This monograph traces the history of an extraordinary 'backwater' of the railway system, conceived as part of an improbable scheme for linking the Midland canal network, via the Stratford Canal, with Oxford and London. The opening chapters show that in the event the line ran only from the canal's terminal basins at Stratford to Moreton-in-Marsh, with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour. It was one of 192 the earlier railways—the Act was passed in 1821, a few weeks after that for the Stockton & Darlington—and throughout its life traffic was horse drawn along much of the line. John Norris has enlarged on the account in Waterways to Stratford, first published in 1962 and long since out of print. He has added a wealth of new material, clearly the result of thorough subsequent research, with several additional illustrations. The bulk of the monograph is devoted to the inception, building, and operation of the tramway, but a short chapter covers the rebuilt section between Moreton and Shipston, which was operated by the GWR, with standard stock, from 1899. The interesting, if undistinguished, history of the remainder effectively ended with its abandonment in 1926, though it had fallen into disuse shortly after the turn of the century. A useful feature of the book is the description, with grid references, of surviving works along the route. There are illustrations of the more substantial structures and early plans of the terminal sidings. Three of the appendices are nineteenth century descriptions of the tramway. Indeed, a highlight of the work is an account of 'the experiences of an unofficial passenger', who made the some what hazardous journey from Stratford to Shipston in 1877 or thereabouts. Countless visitors to Stratford will have seen the restored wagon and the pleasing brick bridge across the Avon, but few will have appreciated the significance of these relics of the town's first railway. Now they have only to read Mr Norris's interesting and wide-ranging account of this remarkable venture—one which seemed doomed from the start and survived for a century.

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.