Search results for ""Author Tim Bryan""

Isambard Kingdom Brunel: Victorian icon, engineer, artist, architect, designer and visionary, entrepreneur and celebrity. His astounding feats changed the British landscape, and this new book tells the story of his awe-inspiring achievements and innovations as a railway engineer. New to the developing world of railways in the early 1830s, Brunel soon came to rival George and Robert Stephenson, as he embarked on what he called ‘the finest work in England’. The construction of the Great Western Railway, arguably the most revolutionary of British railways, opened in 1841. Tim Bryan, Director of the Brunel Institute at the SS Great Britain, chronicles how, in almost thirty tumultuous years, Brunel created a rail network covering much of the South and West of England, the Midlands and Wales. The network included masterpieces like Paddington Station and the Royal Albert Bridge and still carries millions of travellers today. The book also describes how Brunel’s successes were matched by ‘monumental failures’ – the ill-fated atmospheric system used on the South Devon Railway, and the far-reaching implications of the broad gauge for his railways, which ultimately cost millions of pounds when abolished. Iron, Stone and Steam is also the story of the great engineer’s complex character and the roles of the people who helped the creative, and sometimes dictatorial, genius create his railway. These range from the navvies who built his bridges, tunnels and lines, to contemporaries like Daniel Gooch, without whom his vision would never have been fully realised. Above all, this is the story of Brunel’s vision to create a railway empire like no other.

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The most glamorous trains run by railway companies were the high-speed expresses, linking the major towns, cities and holiday destinations. They included overnight sleepers, fast mail trains, excursion specials and boat trains connecting with ocean liners. These premier trains were the fastest and most luxurious of their day. They generated much publicity, especially in the 1930s when they regularly broke speed records. The names of the most famous expresses still resonate with the public today: the ‘Flying Scotsman’, the ‘Royal Scot’, the ‘Cornish Riviera Limited’ and the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’. These and luxurious Pullman services featured the newest and fastest locomotives and the most up-to-date and comfortable rolling stock. The latest technology helped increase express train speeds and reduce travel times, making a journey on an express an experience not to be missed for the well-heeled traveller. Most of the famous expresses vanished in the 1970s and only a few survive today. Although faster diesel and electric trains now make journeys considerably faster, the overall level of comfort for passengers rarely matches that of their glamorous predecessors. This book is part of the Britain’s Heritage series, which provides definitive introductions to the riches of Britain’s past, and is the perfect way to get acquainted with express trains in all their variety.

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Have you ever watched wagon after wagon of a goods train thunder past and wondered where it is heading, what it is carrying, and how it works its way between the passenger services? While goods services now tend to be shrouded in anonymity, in past times they were celebrated, prominently advertised, and in many cases were the raisons d’être for a rail route. Throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century, goods trains were the lifeblood of the nation, transporting precious raw materials, construction and industrial items, and fresh produce from coastal areas and farms into the centres of bustling cities. This informative illustrated history shows how rail freight has been carried since Victorian times, and how systems have been organized, from the train itself to the sidings, railway clearing houses, goods sheds and final destinations – whether villages, towns, cities, factories or docks. It also examines the basic rolling stock of these trains, from the humble coal wagon to today’s hi-tech containers.

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Isambard Kingdom Brunel considered the Great Western Railway the ‘finest work in England’ and he contributed many groundbreaking features, none so unorthodox as the decision not to adopt the ‘standard’ track gauge of 4ft 8½in and instead introduce the new ‘broad gauge’ of 7ft ¼in. Describing the rationale behind the choice of broad gauge, and also the unique track and locomotives used, this beautifully illustrated introduction to broad gauge railways chronicles the building of the original GWR between Bristol and London, and the expansion of that original 112-mile main line into a network stretching across the West of England, Wales and the Midlands. It describes how the clash between broad and narrow led to the ‘Battle of the Gauges’ and also provides a list of places to visit where broad gauge artefacts still survive.

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For almost 150 years, the influence of the Great Western Railway's workshops in Swindon extended well beyond the great walls which surrounded most of the complex, which at its height, covered over 320 acres. Although the works has now closed, its influence on the town it helped to create is as strong as ever. In this collection of old photographs drawn from the archives of the GWR Museum in Swindon, the reader is taken on a photographic tour of the great workshops, and the huge variety of activities which went on in the factory are well illustrated with many evocative pictures, mainly covering the period between 1900 and 1960. Swindon was justly famous for the quality of the locomotives and rolling stock it produced, but this book also tells the story of the men behind the machines. Rare and unpublished photographs show something of life for the railway worker both inside and outside the works, and it is hoped that this selection will give the reader some idea of what it was like to live in what many see as the archetypal 'Railway Town'.

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Evolving from the horse-drawn stage coaches that they soon eclipsed, railway carriages steadily grew in sophistication so that by the end of the nineteenth century the railway passenger travelled in comfortable rolling stock of a design familiar to many until the 1960s. While modern trains look different from those built more than a century ago, even today the facilities are not so dissimilar from those enjoyed by our Victorian ancestors. This book describes the development of the railway carriage from those early days to the present, highlighting some of the key developments in the history, design and construction of carriages. It also looks at the innovations that made life easier for the passenger, such as the introduction of heating, lavatories and restaurant and buffet facilities, as well as the differences in comfort between the various classes of traveller.

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In Tim Bryan's Great Western Swindon the reader was taken on a tour of both inside and outside the GWR workshops at Swindon, which dominated the history of a town for almost 150 years. Since its publication, the collection from which the images were drawn has been moved to the new STEAM: Museum of the Great Western Railway, which opened in 2000. Swindon & the GWR includes a further selection of evocative photographs from the museum's collection, featuring the men and women who worked at Swindon as well as a glimpse of life beyond the walls of the factory. As well as including more rare and previously unpublished pictures, this volume also illustrates other well-known aspects of the Swindon story, including GWR locomotives, royal visits, staff outings and the famous 'Trip' holiday.

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