Search results for ""Author Laurence Waters""

Churchward's 2 cylinder Saint Class 4-6-0s were arguably one of the most important locomotive developments of the twentieth century. The seventy-seven members of the class were so successful that most of the other railway companies in this country used the same 2 cylinder 4-6-0 formula in the design of their own mixed traffic locomotives. Over the years the Saints saw a number of modifications, with many of the class passing into BR ownership. The last member of the class, no. 2920 Saint Martin, was withdrawn from service in 1953 and was sadly not preserved. However, the Great Western Society are now constructing a replica Saint at Didcot Railway Centre. Numbered 2999 it will be named Lady of Legend. In this book author Laurence Waters charts the remarkable history of the class from the construction of the prototype Saint at Swindon in 1902, right through to the final withdrawals in 1953. Using many previously unpublished black and white photographs, accompanied by informative captions, each member of the class is illustrated.This book should appeal to those interested in the history of Great Western Locomotive development as well as modellers of the Great Western and Western Region.

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From the opening of the Great Western Railway in 1838 through to the end of steam traction on the Western Region in 1965 the ‘engine shed’ formed an important role in both the infrastructure and operation of the railway. As the Great Western system expanded so did the need for larger locomotive servicing facilities and from the 1870s right through to the 1930s many sheds were rebuilt into larger locomotive depots or in some cases replaced by entirely new structures Nationalisation of the railways in 1948 saw the formation of the ‘British Railways Western Region’. Apart from a few early sub-shed closures the number of Western Region steam depots and sub-sheds remained almost unaltered until the regional boundary changes of 1958. Using black and white and colour images from the Great Western Trust archive at Didcot, the book illustrates Western Region steam depots and ‘sub sheds’ that were in operation in the mid 1950s. With many previously unpublished photographs the book should interest modellers, historians and enthusiasts of the Western Region. Today the unique atmosphere of the steam ‘shed’ can be still be experienced at Didcot, where the original 1932 locomotive shed forms the centrepiece of the Didcot Railway Centre.

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This is a history of the railways of Oxford ,looking at the operations and development of services , from the opening of the Oxford Railway by the Great Western on 12 June 1844 through to the present day. This volume covers the development of the railway locally, including the London and North Western Buckinghamshire Railway' from Bletchley, together with the five local branch lines. The opening of the Great Western / Great Central joint line from Culworth Junction to Banbury Junction in August 1900 resulted in the growth of inter regional cross country services passing through Oxford . The advent of the second world war saw the construction of a new junction at Oxford North giving for the first time a direct link from the Great Western to the London Midland & Scottish Railway branch to Bletchley and beyond. The opening of these two new junctions saw a considerable increase in both passenger and freight traffic which resulted in Oxford becoming a major railway centre . For many years one of the highlights was the arrival and departure of locomotives on a daily basis from all of the big four railway companies. Those days are long gone, but today Oxford is as busy as ever, with passenger services to London operated by Great Western Railway and Chiltern Trains, and by Cross Country Trains the South and the North of England.

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