Fire and Steam (56 page)
Authors: Christian Wolmar
There is a huge literature on accidents of which the most famous is L. T. C. Rolt's
Red for Danger: a history of railway accidents and railway safety
(4th edn, David & Charles, 1982). There are eight volumes of a pictorial series on railway accidents entitled
Trains in Trouble
by various authors, published in the 1980s by Atlantic Books (not the current publisher), which is very comprehensive. Stanley Hall's
Danger Signals
(Ian Allan, 1987) and
Hidden Dangers
(Ian Allan, 1999) cover more recent disasters.
On the navvies, the lively
The Railway Navvies: a history of the men who made the railways
(Hutchinson, 1965, reprinted by Pimlico, 2000) by Terry Coleman remains the best account, but
The Railway Builders
by R. S. Joby (David & Charles, 1983) is also worth reading. Joby's
The Railwaymen
(David & Charles, 1984) provides background on the early workers in the industry and another good account is
The Railway Workers, 1840â1970
by Frank McKenna (Faber & Faber, 1980). The best biography of a contractor is the
Life and Labours of Mr. Brassey
by Sir Arthur Helps, originally published in 1872 and reprinted by Tempus Books in 2006.
The history of the unions can be found in the two volumes of
The Railwaymen: the history of the National Union of Railwaymen
by
Philip Bagwell (George Allen & Unwin, 1963 and 1982) and
ASLEF 1880â1980
by Brian Murphy, which was published by the union itself.
There are countless accounts of their life on the railway by staff of all grades. Those I enjoyed include
Tales of the Old Railwaymen
by Tom Quinn (David & Charles, 1998), which is a collection of over a dozen such lifetime stories, and
Small Coal and Smoke Rings
(John Murray, 1983), which is written by a Great Western fireman, Derek Brock, as is
Firing Days
by Harold Gasson (Oxford Publishing Company, 1973).
The Memories and Writings of a London Railwayman
is based partly on an oral history stretching back to the early twentieth century (edited by Alan Jackson, Railway & Canal Historical Society, 1993). John Farrington's
Life on the Lines
(Moorland Publishing, 1984) was compiled from a wide variety of conversations with railway workers, and Graham Zeitlin's
Staying on Track
(Scotforth Books, 2002) is a manager's account of life at BR. The previously neglected story of women in the railway industry has been covered comprehensively in the excellent
Railwaywomen: exploitation, betrayal and triumph in the workplace
by Helena Wojtczak (Hastings Press, 2005).
On stations,
London's Termini
by Alan A. Jackson (David & Charles, 1969) is a good start, while David St John Thomas evokes all the romanticism of rural railways and branch lines in
The Country Railway
(David & Charles, 1976). John Betjeman wrote the evocative
London's Historic Railway Stations
(John Murray, 1972). Two anthologies I stumbled upon are full of priceless detail and serendipity:
The Railway Enthusiast's Bedside Book,
edited by H. A. Vallance (Batsford, 1966) and
The Railway-Lovers Companion,
edited by Bryan Morgan (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1963). Two more recent entertaining compilations of the good and the bad of the railway are:
Railway Blunders
by Adrian Vaughan (Ian Allan, 2003) and
Railway Milestones and Millstones
by Stanley Hall (Ian Allan, 2006).
For a wider history of transport, there is
British Transport: an economic survey from the seventeenth century to the twentieth
by H. J. Dyos and D. H. Aldcroft (Leicester University Press, 1969). The thorough
Dow's Dictionary of Railway Quotations
by Andrew Dow (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006) is an indispensable reference book. Finally, for material written up to the late 1960s, the bibliography
by E. T. Bryant,
Railways: A Readers' Guide
(Clive Bingley, 1968) is comprehensive and provides potted outlines of many of the books it lists. And obviously for anything missed out above, there is George Ottley, whose original work has been supplemented by a revised volume and two supplements: A
Bibliography of British Railway History
(George Allen & Unwin, 1965);
A Bibliography of British Railway History
(2nd edn, HMSO, 1983);
A Bibliography of British Railway History: Supplement: 7951â12956
(HMSO, 1988);
Ottley's Bibliography of British Railway History; and Second supplement 12957â19605
(National Railway Museum with Railway & Canal Historical Society, 1998).
INDEX
ABC railway guide,
ref1
Aberayron & New Quay Light Railway,
ref1
Aberdeen,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
; and railway races,
ref7
Abergavenny,
ref1
Abergele,
ref1
accidents,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
,
ref7
,
ref8
; Armagh,
ref9
; Tay Bridge,
ref10
; Preston,
ref11
; Salisbury,
ref12
; Quintinshill,
ref13
; Southall,
ref14
; and General Strike,
ref15
; Harrow and Wealdstone,
ref16
; Clapham Junction,
ref17
; Hatfield,
ref18
Adley, Robert,
ref1
Advanced Passenger Train,
ref1
aeroplanes and air transport,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Agar Town,
ref1
Allan, Ian,
ref1
Allen, Cecil J.,
ref1
Allen, Geoffrey Freeman,
ref1
Allport, James,
ref1
Alton,
ref1
Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS),
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of Scotland,
ref1
ambulance trains,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Amersham,
ref1
Annesley,
ref1
aqueducts,
ref1
Armagh accident,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
armoured trains,
ref1
Arrow
,
ref1
Arundel,
ref1
Ashton-under-Lyne,
ref1
Asquith, Herbert,
ref1
Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Fireman (ASLEF),
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
,
ref7
,
ref8
Aston Hall,
ref1
Athenaeum
,
ref1
atmospheric railways,
ref1
,
ref2
Attlee, Clement,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Austria,
ref1
Automatic Train Control,
ref1
Automatic Warning System,
ref1
,
ref2
Avon, river,
ref1
Aylesbury,
ref1
Ayton, Richard,
ref1
Badminton station,
ref1
Baker, Benjamin,
ref1
Baker Street station,
ref1
Balaklava Railway,
ref1
Baldwin, Stanley,
ref1
Ballater,
ref1
Ballydehob,
ref1
Bank of England,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Barlow, William,
ref1
Barnes, Alfred,
ref1
Barnsley,
ref1
Barrow-in-Furness,
ref1
Bass, Michael Thomas,
ref1
Batty Green,
ref1
BBC,
ref1
Beasley, Ammon,
ref1
Beaufort, Duke of,
ref1
Beckenham,
ref1
Beckton,
ref1
BedfordâSt Pancras line,
ref1
Beeching, Richard,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Beeching cuts,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
,
ref7
,
ref8
,
ref9
,
ref10
,
ref11
âBeer Trains',
ref1
Belfast,
ref1
Belmont station,
ref1
benevolent funds,
ref1
Benge, John,
ref1
Berkhamsted,
ref1
Berks & Hants line,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Bethnal Green,
ref1
Bevan, Aneurin,
ref1
Bexleyheath,
ref1
Bickley loop,
ref1
Billingsgate Market,
ref1
Birmingham,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
; railway connections,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
,
ref7
,
ref8
,
ref9
; Curzon Street station,
ref10
; New Street station,
ref11
; London services,
ref12
,
ref13
,
ref14
,
ref15
,
ref16
,
ref17
,
ref18
,
ref19
,
ref20
; and postal service,
ref21
; fish deliveries,
ref22
; suburban railways,
ref23
; railway access,
ref24
; workmen's trains,
ref25
; and electrification,
ref26
Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Bishop Auckland,
ref1
Bishop's Castle Railway,
ref1
Bishop's Stortford,
ref1
Bishopsgate station,
ref1
Blackfriars station,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Blair, Tony,
ref1
Blea Moor tunnel,
ref1
Blenkinsop, John,
ref1
Bletchley,
ref1
Bletchley flyover,
ref1
Blisworth,
ref1
Blucher
,
ref1
Blumenfeld, R. D.,
ref1
Bodmin,
ref1
Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway,
ref1
,
ref2
Boer War,
ref1
Bolton,
ref1
Bolton & Leigh Railway,
ref1
Bon Accord
,
ref1
Bonavia, Michael,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
Bouch, Thomas,
ref1
Boulogne,
ref1
Bournemouth Belle
,
ref1
Bourneville,
ref1
Boulton, Matthew,
ref1
Bradshaw, George,
ref1
Bradshaw's rail guide,
ref1
Branch Line Committee,
ref1
branch lines,
ref1
,
ref2
; closures,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
,
ref7
Brassey, Thomas,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Brecon,
ref1
Brentwood Gazette
,
ref1
Bridges, Frank,
ref1
Bridgwater, Duke of,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
Bridgwater, Frome & Central Somerset Railway,
ref1
Briggs, Asa,
ref1
Brighton,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
; London services,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
,
ref7
,
ref8
,
ref9
,
ref10
; electrification of line,
ref11
Brighton Belle
,
ref1
Bristol,
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
,
ref7
; time in,
ref8
; London services,
ref9
,
ref10
,
ref11
,
ref12
,
ref13
,
ref14
,
ref15
; Temple Meads station,
ref16
; Parkway station,
ref17