Rail Centres: Crewe
In the history of Britain's railways there were a number of towns which grew up solely as a result of the development of the railway net-work and the need for major railway work-shops. Whilst towns such as Doncaster developed from much smaller settlements, others, of which Crewe is a prime example, were the Victorian equivalent of New Towns - green field sites which became dominated by the presence of one of the major railways. The history of Crewe is dominated by its role as a major junction for the London & North Western Railway - with lines radiating out towards Holyhead, London, Manchester and the north - as well as being the location of the LNWR's primary locomotive workshop. Other railways, most notably the Great Western and North Staffordshire. came to recognise the importance of Crewe and provided direct links to Shrewsbury and the East Midlands.
More than a century-and-a-half after the first lines reached Crewe, the town, and its workshops, remain one of the pivotal junctions on the electrified West Coast main line. Its importance being emphasised in the remodelling of the station in the mid-1980s - a reconstruction designed to take the railway into the 21st century. In the latest of the successful 'Rail Centres' series, well-known rail-way historian Rex Christiansen narrates the often dramatic railway history of the town to provide a detailed account of this most important of rail centres.
Hardback, 128 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Very Good
ISBN: 9780711021488
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Updated: 2 January 2025