The Railway Era: Life and Lines in the Great Age of Railways

Ashbourne: Moorland Publishing. Very Good +/Very Good +. 1982. First Edition. Hard Cover. 6.5" By 9.5" Tall 0861900723 153 pages clean and tight. Previous owner's ownership label on front paste down. There are many books about railway history, locomotives and rolling stock but few which set these fascinating subjects in their wider context of carrying people and goods. Yet this is the reason for the very existence of railways and it represents the pinnacle of their activity and interest. Nowhere does the railway scene come more to life than in the bustle of a crowded terminus, the swaying speed drama of an Aberdeen fish train hastening to the London markets, the community involvement of a meandering branch line or the quiet luxury ofa Pullman car meal between the wars. This is the world of The Railway Era which sets out to depict the great age of railways in terms of the way it affected the whole community. Right from the time when third class passengers had to stand in open trucks to the dramatic days of express steam it looks at trains and operation in terms of the people who used railways for their travel, their leisure and their commerce. In the process the book unfolds the whole story of railway progress over 125 years and gives some fascinating glimpses, not only of the kaleidoscope of great moments, but also of the operational background and of the unusual byway of a great industry. .