Great Central - Volume Two: Dominion of Watkin 1864-1899
The second volume of George Dow's classic work covers 35 crowded years in the development of a railway from provincial to trunk stature: of the joint lines of which it was part-owner: and of the marine activities which extended its sphere of influence to the Continent.
Much new light is thrown upon the career and methods of Edward Watkin, the last of the British 'Railway Kings". Abounding with energy. autocratic, ambitious. capricious, impetuous and yet courageous. Watkin's interests ranged beyond railways. In this respect he was the Victorian equivalent of Clore and Cotton rolled into one. with the emphasis on transport instead of property.
His most praiseworthy dream, the Channel Tunnel, remains unfulfilled. Amongst his successes may be numbered the development of the MS & L as a coal carrier, the expansion of the docks at Grimsby and the creation of Cleethorpes as a money-spinning resort.
Of his several failures, which included an abortive steel tower at Wembley, surpassing the Eiffel, the extension to London was, perhaps. the worst. It has rightly been described as 'a belated. and almost entirely superfluous, product of the original era of fighting construction'. But Watkin had hankered after entry into London since 1860 and, in the end. had his way. Throughout his age the Government's attitude towards railway expansion was usually one of laissez-faire just as it is today towards the vitally necessary planning of transport as a whole.
Amongst the many tributes paid Volume 1 was its description by Modern Transport as 'an outstanding contribution to railway historical literature'. It is believed that this present volume more than maintains the standard set by its predecessor.
Hardback with dust jacket , 424 pages, black & white and colour photographs, drawings, maps
Condition: Fair-Good, ex public lending libary
ISBN: 9780711014695
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