Narrow Gauge Railways - Wales and the Western Front
This nostalgic, evocative book looks back to the world of the narrow gauge railway when it was in its heyday. During his employment with the London and North Eastern Railway from 1924-8, Humphrey Household travelled around many of the narrow gauge lines, armed with notebook and camera, and was thus uniquely placed to capture the particular qualities of the lines and the locomotives and the lives of the railwaymen who worked them.
Based upon this collection of photographs, many never published before, and the original notes he took at the time, this is a superb record of the narrow gauge railways at their peak, and the railway stations which were still then an important part of village life. Full of anecdote and detail, it tells the history of the lines and also discusses the subsequent battles for their preservation and their future development.
Only two of the five Welsh lines now remain in operation: Festiniog, threading its way from Bleanau ffestiniog to Porthmadog, on which the success of narrow gauge was first proved and which led to its worldwide adoption in difficult terrain; and the picturesque Talylyn, a unique example of mid-1860s railway, with its original rolling stock, and the first narrow gauge railway in Britain designed for use by steam locomotives. Humphrey Household also tells of the intimate Corris, and the Glyn Valley Tramway, mainly used for mineral haulage, but also a spectacular though bumpy journey for its few passengers; and of the Ashover Light Railway in Derbyshire. In addition a detailed history is given of the 920 miles of War Department Light Railways on the Western Front in 1914 to 1918, which at their peak carried over 200,000 tons a week.
A lively mix of personal reminiscence and historical detail, accompanied by over 100 photographs, this book will appeal to all Humphrey Household's existing readers and will win him many new ones.
Hardback with dust jacket, 160 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Very Good
ISBN: 9780862993931
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Updated: 15 September 2025