|
| |
|
Books Ba - Bo
BARRY RAILWAY
STEAMERS
by M. A. Tedstone
|
|
Almost a century has elapsed since the Barry 'Red
Funnel Line' steamers disappeared from the Bristol Channel excursion
scene, and although Barry Pier has gone, as has the railway that
served it, the remains are yet visible, and so the memory of the
handsome fleet of paddle-steamers that were based there lingers on.
The recollections of those that travelled on the former Barry vessels
that survived until World War II have been the stimulus to ask why it
was that the White Funnel Fleet of Bristol was so challenged, at a key
time of the evolution on the British paddle-steamer, by the upstart
South Walian Barry Railway Company.
To understand the story of the so-called 'Barry &
Bristol Channel Steamship Company' it is necessary to consider - on
the one hand - the origins of the parent Barry Railway Company and -
on the other - how P. & A. Campbell Ltd of Bristol with its 'White
Funnel Fleet' became the dominant excursion-steamer operator in the
Bristol Channel by the 1890s, the era in which this story starts.
|
 |
|
The
Barry Railway was very much a company created to serve a docks complex
for the export of coal. Here, passenger train operations were somewhat
secondary to the primary purpose of moving minerals traffic down from
the various valleys. The company had succeeded in gaining access to
numerous valleys already served by other railways in order to tap the
abundant minerals traffics of the South Wales coalfield for export
through its large new Barry Docks.
The
White Funnel Fleet of the Bristol-based company of P. & A. Campbell
Ltd had its origins as a purely excursion-steamer business trading in
the Bristol Channel without any particular railway interests or
involvement. The Campbell brothers saw how their rival Cardiff-based
company Edwards, Robertson developed valuable links between its
'Yellow Funnel Fleet' and the powerful Taff Vale Railway for through
ticketing between South Wales valleys towns and resorts in Devon and
Somerset, via Cardiff and Penarth. But by the late 1890s the White
Funnel Fleet of P. & A. Campbell Ltd had taken over the vessels of its
Cardiff-based competitors, and the supremacy of the Bristol ships was
clear to see.
Perhaps
it was only natural that the Barry interests should seek to challenge
those that were perceived as threatening. As the Barry Docks complex
had taken shape, it was a relatively straightforward matter to extend
passenger railway operations from Barry across to Barry Island for
leisure traffic, and then to push further through tunnel to what was
to become Barry Pier station, immediately adjacent to the main
entrance lock to Barry Docks.
Although
the Barry Railway thought in terms of controlling its own steamship
operations from the outset, it was realised that this would meet with
opposition from Campbells at Bristol with its large fleet, and so the
Barry company initially settled for an alliance whereby the White
Funnel Fleet of steamers served Barry Pier when it opened in 1899. But
it was to be an uneasy alliance, and so the point was soon reached
where the Barry company would feel obliged to go it alone. The
struggle that followed was to be both litigious and complicated and
the structure of this book is thus based on four distinct periods in
the life of Barry Pier, in order to present a comprehensive picture of
the passenger shipping activities of the Barry Railway Company. The
first period covers the years up until 1904, before the railway
company opted to purchase its own fleet The second period, which
comprises the larger part of this account, spanned the years 1905-1909
when this new fleet was operated directly in connection with the Barry
Railway, and when the head-on competition between red and white funnel
interests was intense, and the legal battles were high-profile. A
third, brief period came after the railway sold its three remaining
vessels to a wholly separate undertaking who operated in the two
seasons, 1910 and 1911. After this the red funnel disappeared from the
Bristol Channel excursion passenger scene and the fourth and final
period takes the story forward from 1912. This was when P. & A.
Campbell Ltd took control, and ended in the 1970s, after services at
Barry Pier had dwindled and were finally given up, and the pontoon
dismantled.
This
book is to A5 format with a laminated card cover with square-backed
spine, 224 pages, including 4 pages of colour, with 128 illustrations.
A 520mrnx395mm pull-out plan of the steam ships Gwalia and
Devonia is also included. |
|
X80 |
ISBN 0 85361 635 3
ISBN 978 0 85361 635 1 |
£
14.95 |
|
LAWSON BILLINTON, A
career cut short
by Klaus Marx |
|
Lawson
Billinton, the last of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway's
locomotive engineers, proved a fine craftsman over the 12 years of his
reign at Brighton. Unfortunately, World War I intervened drastically
to restrict his output to just 34 new build locomotives.
But it was
his period of military service abroad that revealed the true character
of the man who was able to meet every challenging situation, whether
Bolshevik bullies or agitators amongst his own company's workforce.
Arriving
at a promotional dead-end at the 'Big Four' Grouping in 1923, he
elected in retirement to live the life of a country squire and devote
himself to his family and friends, even building his own garden
railway.
|
 |
|
Contents |
|
Introduction
Appointed Locomotive Engineer
Lawson Billinton's continuing career
The Early Years
Assuming the regulator
The 'E2' 0-6-0Ts
The 'K' class Moguls
The 'L' class Baltics
Modifications to existing Stock
Maintaining the infrastructure
The Years up to 1917
The War Effect
The Role of Newhaven
The Company's general involvement
Relations with the Workforce
Military Service
Destination Unknown
The Russian Revolution
Journey to Romania |
State of the Romanian Railways
The situation in Romania deteriorates
Transfer to the Caucasus
Rostov-on-Don
The Fall of Rostov
The Mission continues
Kharkov
Moscow
Ekaterinburg
The Road to Vladivostok
Tug-o-War
Return to Romania
Interregnums
The First Interregnum
Ambulance Trains
Helping the war effort
Jackson and the workforce
Billinton back at the helm
The Second Interregnum |
The LB&SCR's Final Years
Billinton back for good
Winding down after the Armistice
Updating the Plant
Resumption of
Electrification
Attention to the Locomotive Fleet
Resumption of the Locomotive Building
Programme
The
'B4x' 'Greybacks'
The run
up to the Amalgamation
A
Career cut short
The Later Years
Family
and Farm
The 'K'
Class Model
A Rare
Appearance
Appendices
Bibliography and
Sources
Index
|
|
|
A5 format, 192 pages with
more than 150 photographs/plans etc., it has a glossy laminated cover
with a square-backed spine.
|
|
OL142
|
ISBN 978 0 85361 661 0 |
£
13.95 |
|
ROBERT BILLINTON - An Engineer Under
Pressure
by Klaus Marx
|
 |
Robert Billinton strode
the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway like a colossus, managing
an elephantine department as Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon
Superintendent with a brief to overview the Marine Department, the
company’s engineering equipment, and 101 other matters that impinged
on his expertise and required his attention.
He was the last of the
autocrats to run his empire in true Victorian style and discipline,
but times had changed with the new century as his successor, Marsh,
found to his detriment. Robert’s widespread brief had its wings
clipped by the new generation of company managers, who tightened up
the laid back fashion in which things had been done, and he was a
broken man in his final years. The demands on his attention were
prolific and, despite a good staff team under his direction, the
pressures on the man must have been immense. |
|
Influenced by his
experience with the Midland Railway, he nevertheless continued within
the framework of practice set by Stroudley. To his credit he moved
with the times, displayed a willingness to experiment and introduce
new ideas, and kept the company abreast of modern developments.
However, in many respects he was striving against a huge handicap, the
cramped situation of the workshops at Brighton which were unable to
keep up repairs of an expanding locomotive fleet. All too frequent
breakdown of locomotives and lost time on services left Directors and
public deeply concerned and with no immediate remedy in sight. Though
the responsibility was his, the blame lay with the circumstances and a
lack of forward planning by the company.
The book is to A5 format,
it consists of 152 pages with 120 illustrations. It has a full colour
gloss laminated cover and is perfect-bound. |
|
OL147 |
ISBN 978 0 85361 676 4 |
£
12.95 |
|
BIRMINGHAM
FOOTPLATEMAN - A job for life
by Dennis Herbert
|
 |
Dennis Herbert’s earliest childhood memories recall growing up on one
of the many sprawling housing estates which were built in the
Birmingham area in the 1920s and 1930s. We learn of his family members
and also friends and neighbours on the estate. Dennis was a schoolboy
during the war years, and by 1949 he was ready to seek employment.
There was never much doubt where he would be working.
In
those early years Dennis had discovered a life-long passion for
railways, or perhaps he was brainwashed - his father was a locomotive
fireman for the Great Western Railway at Tyseley. Occasionally, Dennis
and his brother would be taken to Tyseley station to see their dad
working on the shunting engine that worked in the goods yard adjacent
to the station. As a small boy, the close proximity of this little
locomotive became an ogre. With the locomotive wheels towering over
him, it was little wonder that it took some time for his apprehension
to pass. |
|
Once on the footplate with his dad, however, the heat from the fire,
combined with the smell of hot oil, the cab became narcotic.
Meanwhile, Dennis’s poor mother was left to shiver on the exposed
bridge!
On
leaving school he was very disappointed to find that it was the
locomotive department’s policy not to accept employees at less than
15½ years of age - he was five months short of this target. After a
visit to Birmingham Snow Hill for the usual tests, eyesight, colour
blindness, etc., etc., Dennis was offered a job as lad porter at
Acocks Green. By the end of 1949 he had transferred to the locomotive
department at Tyseley. So started a career on the footplate which,
over the course of its 40-plus years, was to see many changes on the
railway.
Dennis worked his way through the ranks from humble engine cleaner to
fireman, and in 1965 he was promoted to driver as the steam era was
drawing to a close. Cutbacks, modernization and rationalization became
the order of the day and for a while he became a ‘Put back driver’
before transferring to the former LMS shed at Saltley to resume
driving duties once more.
Although steam power was no longer part of the daily scene Dennis was
taken aback but delighted when, in 1973, he saw his name on a roster
sheet to drive Sir Nigel Gresley’s Green Arrow and ‘A4’ Pacific
No. 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley. As the years rolled by diesel
locomotives which had been introduced in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s
were subsequently replaced meaning that these engines too became the
attraction for enthusiasts’ special trains and Dennis was to be
rostered as a driver for the ‘Farewell to the Fifties’ railtour too.
This is the story a long and varied career which saw Dennis working on
everything from the little tank engines that worked in and around
Tyseley shed right through to top link driver on Royal Train duty.
A5
format, 272 pages with 105 illustrations and is printed on high
quality art paper. It has a glossy colour card cover. |
|
RS18
|
ISBN 978 0 85361 670 2 |
£
15.95 |
|
|
|
|
|
Peter
Paye, eminent author on East Anglian branch line matters, turns his
attention to the Bishop’s Stortford, Dunmow and Braintree branch, a
railway he first wrote about almost 30 years ago. Here he presents, in
much expanded and revised form, the story of the Bishop’s Stortford to
Braintree branch. The line, nearly 18 miles in length, traversed a route
across the undulating mid-Essex countryside running mostly at right angles
to the river valleys with the result that the line had a veritable
switchback of gradients.
The Bishop’s Stortford, Dunmow and Braintree Railway was initially the
brainchild of East Hertfordshire businessmen, but their idea was quickly
taken over by the Eastern Counties Railway as part of a political gamble
to block opposing railway schemes from entering East Anglia. Even after
the opposition withdrew, the ECR and later the Great Eastern Railway were
undecided as to the future of the railway and legal wranglings with the
contractor delayed the opening of the line for three years.
|
|
On opening to traffic the railway was absorbed by the Great Eastern and
during the halcyon days before the advent of the motor vehicle, business
was good and the branch provided an essential service to the local
community.
As roads and motor vehicles improved, the parallel main road from Bishop’s
Stortford to Braintree quickly attracted passengers away from the railway
and trade rapidly declined to the extent that services were withdrawn in
March 1952, a decade before the Beeching era.
|
|
Freight continued for a further period and then declined rapidly. The
condition of the viaduct near Dunmow effectively led to the closure of the
central section of the branch and thereafter the remaining sections at
each end remained open for short periods before closing. Now all is
silent, many fixed assets are gone.
Essex County Council has transformed the route of the railway into the
‘Flitch Way’, with warden centres using the former Takeley and Rayne
stations, so that ramblers and equestrians can enjoy the delights of the
countryside. However, with the further possible development of Stansted
Airport, the section between Braintree and Takeley might yet revert to
being an operational railway, but that will be for future historians to
report.
352 pages 293 illustrations |
|
Contents
Introduction
Formative Years
Construction and Obstruction
The Great Eastern Takeover
Consolidation
Grouping
Nationalization and Closure
The Route Described
Permanent Way, Signalling and Staff
Timetables and Traffic
Locomotives and Rolling Stock
Level Crossings
Bridges
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index |
|
|
|
LP235 |
ISBN
978 0 85361 708 2 |
£
19.95 |
|
BLACKPOOL TRAMS, THE FIRST HALF CENTURY
by P.H. Abell & I. McLoughlin |
Taking 30 years of research, and three years to write, this is the
first book to give a full detailed history of the early
Blackpool tram fleet covering all trams built, from the conduit days
(1885) to the year before the ‘Streamliners’ first arrived (1932). For
the first time there are detailed notes on all liveries carried by the
trams. The ‘Standard’ tram history is broken down to each individual
tram. There is also a complete record of all works and illuminated
cars constructed or converted from the 1885-1932 fleet. This book is
an essential new work for the tramway and transport historian and
tramway modeller alike. Illustrated with almost 200 photographs, maps
and plans etc. A5 format, 224 pages, art paper throughout. Casebound,
with a gold-blocked spine, printed endpapers and a full colour
laminated colour.
|
|
|
X61
|
ISBN 0 85361 503 9
ISBN 978 0 85361 503 3 |
£
18.95 |
|
BOGIE CARRIAGES OF THE LONDON, BRIGHTON & SOUTH
COAST RAILWAY
by David Gould |
 |
A detailed history of the bogie
carriages on the ‘Brighton Line’. From the grandeur of the Brighton’s
Royal Train to the every day carriages used on the LB&SC lines, they
are all covered here. The story of the LB&SC’s overhead electric
service and the stock which worked it is also told here. 208 pages of
text, plus 90 photographs on art paper 119 plans. A5 format, Linson
cover. |
|
X54 |
ISBN 0 85361 470 9
ISBN 978 0 85361 470 8 |
£
12.90 |
|
BOGIE CARRIAGES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN AND CHATHAM
RAILWAY
by David Gould |
Covering the stock from the formation of the SE&CR until the last
coaches went out of service in 1962, using official registers and
carriage working notices and the author’s great knowledge of the
subject. 208 pages text and diagrams, with 103 photographs on 48 pages
of art paper. A5 format, two-colour Linson cover.
|
 |
|
X52
|
ISBN 0 85361 455 5
ISBN 978 0 85361 455 5 |
£
10.95 |
|
BOGNOR BRANCH LINE
by S. Jordan |
 |
96 pages which includes 64
photographs, 14 maps and 15 plans making this book a thorough history
of this Southern branch. A5 format. Two-colour Linson cover. Art paper
throughout.
|
|
|
LP172
|
ISBN 0 85361 393 1
ISBN 978 0 85361 393 0 |
£
4.95 |
|
|
|
|
