The story of Wylam village in Northumberland is a story about the origin of railways.

Chapman Frederick Marshall gibt in seinem Buch einen umfassenden Einblick über die Geschichte der Lokomotive bis in das frühe 19. Jahrhundert hinein. Sein Ziel war es, Lücken, die in der Darstellung dieses Gegenstandes bis dahin noch in der Literatur bestanden, zu schließen. Dabei geht er nicht nur auf die Idee des Dampfbetriebes ein, sondern nennt wichtige Persönlichkeiten, die die Entwicklung der Lokomotive beeinflusst und vorangetrieben haben. Es handelt sich hierbei um eine englischsprachige Ausgabe.

This is the first encyclopedia to chart the progress of Britain's railway development. It begins with primitive 17th-century wagonways, fully considers the eras of horse, steam, diesel, and electric traction, and then charts the change from private to public ownership. Finally, it describes in detail the privatizations of the late 1990s. Over six hundred entries by eighty-eight expert contributors provide a comprehensive and unique reference to all aspects of railways.

British Steam Locomotives Before Preservation, covers the history in pictorial form of steam locomotives that are now preserved as part of the national collection. Those which can be found in private collections and the ones which adorn the various heritage railways which operate throughout Britain. The book looks at each subject both in its working life and during its subsequent preservation. The pictorial content covers a wide swathe of Britain during the years before the heritage locomotives, were earmarked for preservation.

A railway is not just a collection of machines, rails and buildings – it is also about people. Railway People tells of the wayward Brontë brother Branwell, and his extraordinary but short lived career as a station master. It recounts some little known episodes in the lives of the great railway engineers, including one conceming Isambard Brunel, whose barmy army of navvies took part in the last pitched battle to be seen on British soil. There are tales drawn from the diaries of the first railway police, by turns humorous and gripping. Much relate to railway’s early days and describe the steep learning curve required of the world’s first railwaymen as they engage with the novel technology. By turn the stories are funny, tragic and often surprising. There is heroism in the mix; the heroism of men such as 16 year old John Hackworth who led an expedition in winter across the snowy wastes of Russia to deliver the country’s first steam locomotive to its purchaser, Tsar Nicholas I, fighting off packs of hungry wolves on the way. There are twenty stories in total and all highlight some aspect of the lives of railway people, with all their quirks, faults, mistakes, genius and enterprise. Much original research went into the production of these interesting, informative stories. Most of what appears was originally published in railway magazines such as Michael Blakemore’s Backtrack and some was also published in an earlier incamation of the book titled Those Railway People.