A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 15: North of Scotland
The 15th (eventually of 16) volume in the definitive series on Britain's railway history, this work was given a keen reception and sold out its first edition within months. This second edition has been extensively revised and updated.
Complementing John Thomas's Volume 6 covering the railways of the Scottish Lowlands, it includes the detailed story of all railways north of Perth, including the rich Fife, Tayside and Grampian regions, as well as the Highlands. We thus meet some of Britain's very earliest industrial railways in Fife, as well as hearing of the trials and tribulations of the promoters, engineers and operators of the steel highways penetrating ever further north through some of the nation's most difficult, as well as spectacular, terrain.
Based on extensive original research and on a thorough understanding of the history and trade of the North of Scotland, the book also brings to life many interesting characters. There was, for instance, John Anderson the general manager of the Callander & Oban railway, who not only wrestled with the ambivalence of the Caledonian over a project inherited from the Scottish Central, but worked tirelessly out on the route with all the assurance of the door-to-door salesman to get local people to buy the company's shares. The North British district goods manager at Dundee worked assiduously behind enemy lines for orders before the Tay Bridge was opened, diverting traffic from the Caledonian and building up the image of his company on Tayside to bring about the running powers over the route from Kinnaber Junction to Aberdeen, thus completing the East Coast main line.
Feuds and financing, royal and other glorious occasions, disasters such as the collapse of the first Tay Bridge, traffic peaks in wartime, amalgamation in 1923, the changing fortunes of both East and West Coast fishing fleets and ports, a multitude of through services such as a sleeping car to Lossiemouth, the rise of the great hotels, the seesaw fortune of the great scenic routes under nationalisation... it is all here, along with the fascinating details of building, opening, locomotives and train services on branch as well as main lines.
Hardback with dust jacket, 336 pages, 44 black & white plates, 18 illustrations/maps in text and fold-out map at rear
Condition: Good/Very Good - sticker IFC under DJ and partial fading to spine
ISBN: 9780946537037
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