{"title":"New for October 2026","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis page lists all new books that have arrived or are expected to arrive during October 2026. Advance orders welcomed for books expected to arrive in the next few weeks.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"engine-driving-lives-9781915069702","title":"Engine Driving Lives","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eExpected mid October\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the centenary celebrations of the Flying Scotsman locomotive in 2023, much was spoken about its fascinating history but almost nothing was said about the drivers and firemen, whose Herculean efforts enabled its amazing achievements. It was in this moment that the author, a driver himself, realised that there was significant gap in the history of locomotives and the working of trains. In 416 pages and around 400 illustrations, plus tables and ephemera, this book recounts the history of footplatemen in considerable detail. From William Richards, who drove the first train on the Penydarren Tramroad at 5mph in 1804, through to the men and women who are daily at the controls of trains running from St. Pancras to Brussels and Paris at up to 186mph, this is a very thorough account of a profession which has never been explained in full before. Many people have a stereotypical image of an engine driver but this book offers deeper insights into the joys and sorrows, the disciplines and dangers, and the complex shift patterns which so impact family lives. The author has researched over 1,400 named individuals and has explored, in seventy human vignettes, something of their achievements, career moves and glimpses of their lives away from the railway. This work not only fills a huge gap in our railway history but reveals fresh insights into the daily challenges of driving locomotives and running trains over the past 200 years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardback, 416 pages, black \u0026amp; white and colour photographs\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lightmoor Press","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":58519023911295,"sku":"9781915069702","price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1910\/7111\/files\/9781915069702_1.jpg?v=1790332920"},{"product_id":"porsche-benzine-electric-locomotives-and-the-defence-train-in-world-war-one-9781915069719","title":"Porsche Benzine-Electric Locomotives and the Defence Train in World War One","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eExpected mid October\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the first decade of the 20th Century, Ferdinand Porsche designed a hybrid benzine (petrol)-electric drive for motor cars. In conjunction with an officer in the Austria-Hungary army, the concept was developed to produce a system in which a benzine-electric tractor hauled a ‘road train’ of carts which were also powered by electric motors. The Austria-Hungary army adopted the design to create a railway locomotive, with associated motorised wagons, which could operate on lightly laid track, tight radius curves and gradients as steep as 1 in 12 – the Landwehr Zug (Defence Train). This equipment was used in very challenging environments during the 1914-1918 war on two military railways in Eastern Europe – No. 1 from Dorny Völga to Borgó Tiha and No. 2 from Dutovlje-Skopo to Kostanjevica and Lipa. This book tells the story of the development of the benzine-electric system, the Landwehr Zug and the operation of those two military railways. It uses many photographs taken by the Army’s official photographer, including some from the archives of Porsche AG. It also looks at the battles involving the armies of Austria-Hungary, Russia, Germany and Italy that required strategic and tactical military railways of a rare kind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardback, 144 pages, black \u0026amp; white photographs\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lightmoor Press","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":58519021191551,"sku":"9781915069719","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1910\/7111\/files\/9781915069719_1.jpg?v=1790333421"}],"url":"https:\/\/rail-books.co.uk\/collections\/new-for-october-2026.oembed","provider":"Rail Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}