The Country Railway

By Tim Bryan

While the coming of the railways to Britain's towns and cities in the nineteenth century transformed their fortunes and gave urban dwellers new opportunities to travel across the country, the effect on the largely rural population of the country was arguably far greater. And while some of the initial trunk lines were designed to link major cities, the network of smaller cross-country and branch lines that followed opened up large tracts of previously remote countryside, providing new markets for agricultural produce but also ending the isolation of many rural communities. For many railway enthusiasts, the country railway was typified by the shorter but no less important branch line. Many of these railways began life as independent companies promoted by local people wishing to ensure their community was linked to the main line, but inevitably they were often taken over by large operations like the Great Western, but inevitably remained an important part of the districts and communities they served.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9780747814245

Tim Bryan

Tim Bryan worked as curator at the GWR and STEAM museums in Swindon for more than twenty years and is now Director of the Brunel Institute at the SS Great Britain in Bristol. He is the author of several books on railway and heritage topics and has written six titles for Shire. He lives in Swindon, UK.