Search results for ""Author John Ryan""

In 2023, one hundred years have passed from the dissolution of the Great Northern Railway. Formed in the mid-1840s, the company was instrumental in connecting London with the eastern half of England, the North East and Scotland. Later, the GNR made inroads into other parts of the country, such as Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire. The GNR successfully served the population for nearly a century and was able to innovate in several areas, with developments in locomotive design, carriage construction and services offered. The Glorious Years of the GNR presents several of these areas of the company using over 250 superb black-and-white images, coupled with interesting and informative captions. Boasting several world-renowned engineers, the locomotives of Archibald Sturrock, Patrick Stirling, H.A. Ivatt and H.N. Gresley (later Sir) are featured in various scenes from across the GNR’s network. The company’s coaching stock is also presented, ranging from E.F. Howlden’s six-wheelers to 12-wheel clerestory vehicles and Gresley’s articulated suburban and main line trains. Arguably, Doncaster was the most important place on the GNR, therefore a focus has been placed on the town’s workshops. A number of interesting scenes are included showing the workforce, construction of the Crimpsall Repair Shop, as well as women war workers during the Great War. A small section is dedicated to the GNR’s stations, which ranged from the grand terminus at King’s Cross to humble buildings serving small villages. A number of these have been lost subsequently. Often with staff posing happily for the camera, the stations recall a time when a high standard of service was expected and offered rather than the cost saving and utilitarian facilities of the present. In an era before the motor car, when the world was horse-drawn and steam powered, the GNR was part of a ‘golden age’ of British history. The centenary of the company’s demise provides a welcome opportunity to reflect on this distant, yet great period. A superb edition with over 250 outstanding photographs and thoroughly researched, informative captions. Beautifully produced in hardback with rare and previously unseen images

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In the mid-1930s, eminent locomotive engineer Sir Nigel Gresley produced plans for the A4 Class Pacifics, which were specially built to work a new high-speed express, the ‘Silver Jubilee’. From the start, the class caused a sensation and immediately secured the admiration of the general public. Gresley’s A4s captures these worldfamous locomotives throughout their life, with over 300 excellent colour and black and white images present in this collection, which is arguably the greatest ever assembled on the class. Photographs of every locomotive in the LNER and BR periods are included. Overa dozen A4s feature in a chapter dedicated to the 1946 renumbering, which lasted only two/three years, making pictures of them particularly rare. The A4s are shown at major centres on the East Coast Main Line, such as King’s Cross station, Peterborough, Grantham, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley. Also, images taken during the twilight years in Scotland are included. The surviving engines are seen at several locations in the country – Aberdeen, Glasgow and Perth. A number of images are from the lineside at various points, or wayside stations and water troughs. Some classmembers have been photographed at sheds when being serviced, or under repair at workshops. Many of the famous trains worked by the A4s are presented, such as the ‘Silver Jubilee’, ‘Coronation’, ‘West Riding Limited’ and ‘Flying Scotsman’, then later the ‘Capitals Limited’, ‘Elizabethan’, ‘The Talisman’, etc. The class were often selected to head special trains and there are several examples of this in Gresley’s A4s. The pictures are accompanied by interesting and informative captions that provide details from the history of each locomotive, as well as the class.

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A superb edition with over 160 outstanding photographs and thoroughly researched, informative captions. Beautifully produced in hardback with rare and previously unseen images.

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The London & North Eastern Railway existed from 1923-1947 and presided over one of the most exiting periods in British railway history. From the non-stop ‘Flying Scotsman’ to ‘Silver Jubilee’, ‘Coronation’ and ‘West Riding Limited’ streamlined trains, the company was continually innovating and received accolades as a result. Particularly noteworthy were the LNER’s locomotives, designed by H.N. Gresley (later Sir), with world-renowned designs, such as the A1/A3 Class Pacific – no. 4472 Flying Scotsman – A4 Class – no. 4468 Mallard – and P2 Class 2-8-2 – no. 2001 Cock o’ the North. The Glorious Years of the LNER explores the period through over 400 superb colour and black-and-white images and informative captions. Divided into several sections, the book looks at locomotives, carriages, wagons and road vehicles. The LNER was organised into three areas: Southern (GC, GN and GE), North Eastern (NER) and Scottish (NBR, GNSR). Pictures included are taken at several locations within these, and are on main lines from London to Scotland (Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow), London to Sheffield and Manchester, and London to Ipswich and Norwich, with cross-country routes from Grimsby to Manchester, Cheshire Lines Committee undertakings between Manchester, Liverpool and Chester, as well as the Waverley route from Carlisle to Edinburgh, not forgetting the ‘West Highland’ line from Glasgow to Fort William and Mallaig. Many of Gresley’s locomotives are included – A1/A3, A4, B17, D49, P2, V1, V2, W1 – in addition to his carriages and wagons, whilst many of the constituent companies’ engines also feature, such as those of H.A. Ivatt, Sir Vincent Raven, J.G. Robinson and S.D. Holden. The images are taken from the lineside, at sheds, stations and workshops. The Glorious Years of the LNER celebrates the company as one of the most prestigious and innovative of the ‘Big Four’ railway companies.

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John Ryan's model railway at Over Peover, Cheshire is a story on continual development. He first became interested in model railways at the age of five when his father took him to see A4s, A2s and A1s hurtling through Doncaster railway station on the East Coast Main Line. At Christmas 1955, he acquired his first train set a Hornby-Dublo three-rail `Duchess of Montrose'. Other train sets were acquired and layouts constructed - all OO gauge - until the fascination for O gauge took control. This was in the early 1980s and when, a little later, success and finances became available all his OO gauge locomotives and rolling stock were sold or swapped for O gauge models and he began constructing one of the largest layouts of its type in the country. The switch to O gauge coincided with his teaming up with Norman Solomon, an expert track-builder, who has been involved in the various stages of John's present enormous layout. Other people have supplied stations, goods sheds, coal hoppers, viaducts etc. John runs models of the locomotives he saw whilst a youngster in Doncaster during the 1950s and many are illustrated here. He also has a keen interest in the LNER locomotives built at Doncaster so that the layout can be operated in two periods - 1930s and 1950s. Carriages and wagons also fall into these two periods. Some of John's most impressive carriages include the `Silver Jubilee', `Coronation' and Pullman sets. Text within the book follows the development of model railways in Britain, Doncaster Plant Works' association with locomotive, carriage and wagon building, John's various railway layouts as well as touching upon his business interests. Photographs in the book show in fine detail and from different angles all aspects of the layout to such an extent that the viewer almost believes they are part of a real railway.

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