On this day, 2nd July 1925, a centenary event took place, 100 years since the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The event took place on 2nd July, although the original railway opened on 27th September 1825 to freight and 10th October to passengers. My original copy of the programme is reproduced below, giving… Read More Stockton & Darlington Railway Centenary
With the UK’s biggest railway trade exhibition, Rail Live! taking place again in a weeks time, here’s a quick look at a much earlier rail trade exhibition. In 1954, Willesden in North London was the site of a joint exhibition by British Rail, London Underground & various manufacturers for the International Railway Congress. Here’s some… Read More The 1954 International Railway Congress, Willesden
Bishop’s Castle, a small market town in Shropshire, was the terminus and head office of The Bishop’s Castle Railway Company. Founded in 1860 to build and operate the line between Craven Arms, Bishop’s Castle and onto Montgomery, the line went no further than Lydham Heath and spent almost all of its opertaing life in receivership… Read More The Bishop’s Castle Railway Weighbridge
On 1st May 2021 the oldest working GWR loco returned to passenger carrying duties at Didcot Railway Centre. No. 1340 “Trojan” is an 0-4-0 saddle tank built by Avonside Locomotive Co of Bristol in 1897. It started life on the Newport Docks, which were transferred to the Great Western in 1923 as part of the… Read More The oldest GWR loco in service
Here’s another from The English Electric Company series of booklets about its electrification projects of railways worldwide. No.57 (1932) covers the London Post Office Railway – also known as Mail Rail, which opened in 1928. These scans are of the original booklet. Thanks for reading. Check out my other posts on travel, heritage railways and… Read More The London Post Office Railway
In the 1930’s The English Electric Company produced a series of booklets about its electrification projects of railways worldwide. No.51 (1932) covers the Bombay Suburban lines, the first to be electrified in India. These scans are of the original booklet. Thanks for reading. Check out my other posts on travel, heritage railways and more.Please click… Read More Indian Railways Electrification
The November 1926 edition of “The Railway Engineer” had a 12 page article on the construction of the newly opened City & South London Railway extension to Morden and the connection with the London Electric Railway and construction of the Kennington loop. This is today known as the Northern Line. The scans below are the… Read More City and South London Railway
I bought some large collections of images last year, slowing getting them scanned and uploaded. Here’s a few UK railway images from the late 19th & early 20th Century. Click on them to open the slide show, with captions.I’ve put another page of them in the gallery Thanks for reading. Check out my other posts… Read More Vintage railway images
This scooter popped up on Pinterest the other day. A person powered scooter that fits on the rails. Primarily designed for maintenance and inspection work, it can be carried by one person and will carry 50kg of equipment. Available from Safetrack in Sweden. So it’s time for a quick look at what other forms of… Read More Human Powered Rail Transport
There’s a good article in Marie Claire about how President-elect Joe Biden has become known as “Amtrak Joe” Will he be using a Presidential train to get around instead of a 10 ton armoured limo? Maybe. He’s been a regular Amtrak user for years and took a train journey in September on the campaign trail.… Read More Will “Amtrak Joe” Biden be taking the Presidential train?
