Backtrack

The Penrhyn Quarries, together with those on the other side of Elidir Fawr at Dinorwic, near Bethesda, became the largest producers of slates in the world. The industrial development of the quarries goes back to the 1700s and by 1870 over 90,000 tons

Rocket, the prototype of the modern railway locomotive, is one of the most famous and recognisable railway locomotives. Indeed the name Rocket has become synonymous with early locomotives and this author has heard both Planet (1830), Locomotion (1825

The engine shed put up at Whitby in 1847 by the Whitby & Pickering Railway, for the first use of locomotives, was built of stone, 105 x 35ft with two roads, arched entrances and a hipped roof with central smoke vent; a coaling crane completed the ext

Sitting prominently on the hilltop at West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, with a golden ball on top of its tower, the church of St Lawrence is a well-known landmark visible from trains on the line between High Wycombe and Princes Risborough. Originally bu

Joseph Beattie’s standard 2-4-0 well tanks for the London & South Western Railway totalled no fewer than 85 engines built between 1863 and 1875, all but three by Beyer, Peacock & Co. Most were employed on London suburban work, though some were statio

The date is Wednesday 12th July 1961 and the location is just south of Madeley on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The train, headed by one of Oliver Bulleid’s three 1-Co-Co-1 diesel-electrics, is on the up fast. Mike, who took the photograph, was co

After many vicissitudes, mainly financial, the East Kent Railway had opened between Chatham and Faversham on 25th January 1858 and crossed the Medway into the South Eastern Railway station at Strood two months later. With extensions authorised into b

The Furness Railway line, leaving the West Coast route at Carnforth, is one of the most scenic in England, taking a course via Grange-over Sands, Barrow, Ravenglass and St. Bees to Whitehaven, connecting there with continuing tracks to Workington and

My previous article in the February issue ended by noting how I moved from Northolt Junction East signal box to Kensington South Main box in 1973. Kensington Olympia on the West London line was under the administration of the Area Manager Kensington.

The former Great Western Railway main lines from London and Bristol converged at Cogload Junction, a few miles east of Taunton. That from Bristol fed in services from three other important routes: the ‘North & West’ via the Severn Tunnel, used by tra

The first two of Mr. H. N. Gresley’s Class A1 4-6-2s took to the rails in the final year of the Great Northern Railway in 1922 and production was continued by the London & North Eastern Railway until 52 were in service by 1925. The design was taken f

This exchange between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is so well known as to not require to be referenced: “We are going very well,” he [Holmes] said, looking out of the window and glancing at his watch. “Our rate at present is fifty-three and a half