Colonel Stephen's Railways: A View From The Past
£15.30
Recommended retail price: £15.99
Stock type: -
Stock reference: 33.004
£15.30
Recommended retail price: £15.99
Stock type: -
Stock reference: 33.004
Colonel Stephens ran a fascinating ramshackle empire of small railway companies from an office near to Tonbridge station in Kent. This book celebrates the railways that continued to eke out an existence due to the Colonel's management.
Whilst some locos for his lines were new, the great majority were second-hand. His favourite locomotive types were probably the industrial saddle tanks by Manning Wardle of Leeds and the Terriers of the London Brighton & South Coast Railway. He even owned the unique 2-2-2 WT 'Gazelle' which can be seen today at Tenterden in Kent.
It was not just locomotives that were an eclectic mixture of types and conditions, the same was true of coaches, signals, stations etc. In contrast to the rundown nature of his lines, the Colonel recognised the threat of rural bus services and was a pioneer in the introduction of railbuses to keep local traffic on the rails.
The Colonel owned a number of lines, some of the more famous were:-
* Kent & East Sussex Rly
* East Kent Rly
* Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Rly
* Rye & Camber Tramway
* Selsey Tramway
Readers interested in lines run by small locomotives with small trains round some fairly tight curves can still appreciate what the colonel's railways were like in their heyday. This is thanks to the hard work done by the preservationists on the Kent & East Sussex Railway.
A book that will delight lovers of branch lines and unusual railways, and make those whose experience is of main lines gasp with incredulity.
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Minor & Industrial Railways
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