The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway [Hardcover] by Robert Gratton (Author)

Name: The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway [Hardcover] by Robert Gratton (Author)
Author: Robert Gratton

von Robert Gratton Verlag: RCL Publications

November, 2005 - Erschienen 2005 - Hardcover 368 S. 21,3 x 14,9 x 1 cm

Zustand: gebraucht - sehr gut, I must admit that I have long been put off purchasing this book due to the somewhat high price tag. However, I have just taken the plunge and now wish that I had done so when the first book was published. Don`t be deceived by the apparent size of the photos - this is a large format book (almost A4 and best part of an inch thick with just over 350 pages) - and it needs to be to facilitate presentation of the excellent engineering drawings at a scales ranging from 16mm =1ft through to 4mm = 1ft. These feature not only the various locomotives and rolling stock but also track construction, some buildings, the tunnel portals and even fencing! Colour representations of the trains in each of the three main liveries used are also thoughtfully presented, including the NSR Madder Lake period which is not so well known. For those wishing to build models of the line this book is a treasure-trove of information and detail. The fact that the author worked on with BR`s Permanent Way Department for some time might have something to do with the excellent quality of the drawings! The paper used is quite thick and slightly glossy, which gives a beautiful presentation of the many photographs, some of which are quite new to me despite many years of researching the history of the line. The depth of detail in the various chapters of the book can only be described as outstanding. This book should become THE standard by which ALL other railway histories or documentaries should be measured and can only salute the author, Mr Robert Gratton, on his fantastic achievement. My only regret is that it appears to be currently out of print. Indeed, I have already paid over the original publishers price to get my copy and expect this book to become a well sought after collectors item - it certainly deserves to be one. I can only hope that the publishers will take note and do another print run in the near future. The Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway, had it lasted until the mid to late fifties would have probably have been a strong contender for railway preservation. However with just a short life of thirty years from its opening in 1904 to its closure in 1934, railway preservation had not even been thought of, in those early years. The railway ran from Waterhouses( 9 miles from Leek, Staffordshire) to Hulme End in the Staffordshire Moorlands, for a distance of eight and a half miles through the beautiful Manifold Valley in the heart of the Peak District. It was quite unusual as far as Narrow Guage Railways are designed, with a track gauge of 2ft 6ins and unsual, because of its purpose of being able to transport standard gauge railway wagons, loaded onto specially designed narrow gauge flat wagons which were built specially for this railway. The standard gauge wagons were loaded onto the narrow gauge wagons at Waterhoues, where the railway connected to the Leek to Waterhouses main line. These were then taken along the valley and off loaded at several staions throughout the valley, onto short sections of standard gauge track which was laid on a raised platform at most of the stations along the valley. The larger wagons were hand pushed off the narrow gauge wagons onto these short sections of standard gauge track, so that their contents could be unloaded to supply all the farms situated in this remote part of the Manifold Valley, where roads were steep and just simple cart tracks, inaccessable to ordinary road vehicles. The empty wagons or reloaded wagons could then be returned to Waterhouses for collection by the standard gauge locos and sent to various destinations throughout the rail network. The main purpose of transporting these goods though, was for milk, which was collected from farms and taken to the Ecton Milk Factory. From here the treated milk was loaded into standard gauge glass lined milk tankers, which were then taken to Waterhouses to be assembled into trains, which took the milk to Finsbury Park in London. This was run on a daily basis every morning, which lasted until 1928, when the factory at Ecton finally closed. The L.&.M.V.L.Rly only ever had two locomotives which were rather large engines for a narrow gauge line, these were named E.R. Calthrop(No1) & J.B. Earle(No2), named after the railways designer and chief engineer. They were of Indian design (after the Barsi Light Railway which was built in India in the 1890s by E.R.Calthrop) before the L.& M.V.L.Rly was begun. The locos were built by Kitsons of Leeds, who also built the slightly larger Barsi Light Railway locomotives. Besides the seven transporter wagons, there was also a lare bogie box van for produce and four large bogie coaches with unusual sloping shed type roofs and open balconies with wrought iron railings. These consisted of two first/third class carriages & two brake/thirds. These were used on a daily basis throughout the life of the railway making two and sometimes three return journeys each day with extra journeys during the summer bank holidays, which became popular with tourist after the 1st WW. The railway first ran under the ownership of The North Staffordshire Railway Company and was taken over by the LMS in 1923 when the four big railway groups were formed. Due to dwindling passenger numbers and the introduction of the motor vehicles that were now able to access the valley, the railway finally closed in 1934 and two years later the whole track was dismantled and apart from Hulme End Station, and the many bridges that sriss cross the River Manifold, all other buildings were dismantled. There have been many publications about the L.&.M.V.L.Rly over the years but this delightful book published just recently is the best book yet on this magnificent little railway. It is quite a large book with dozens of photos and lots of illustrations and scale drawings, covering all the locos, wagons, carriages, buildings, bridges, track laying dimensions etc etc, as well as many chapters detailing the planing, construction, grand opening, running and history of the railway from raising shares for contruction to final dismantling of this wonderful little railway. Definately a collectors item for all railway enthusiasts and historians alike, it can be refered to as the Bible for the Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway now sadly lost and gone forever. You can still walk the whole length of this eight and a half mile railway today, along the former track bed which was turned into a cycle way during the early sixties. Part of the track bed from Wetton Mill to Hulme End is also a single track road which runs through the only tunnel on the former railway. All the stations are now long gone but are still tracable with the exception of Hulme End Station which was retained for council use (original building), it has now been beautifully restored to its former glory and serves as a Visitor Information Centre for the Manifold Valley. Even the old corrugated engine shed still stands and serves as a vehicle depot for Staffordshire County Council Road Maintenance Dept, which sevice the roads for the local area. Well worth a visit if you are visiting the Peak District. This book will provide hours and hours of reading about this special little narrow gauge railway which never made it into preservation. A gem of a book and fantastic reference guide for this forgotten little railway! This book is a truly stunning publication, in terms of size, format, written and pictorial content. It is difficult to believe that any information regarding the inception, design, construction, operation and the personalities involved with this railway have been missed from this book. The content moves beyond the railway boundary to encompass the needs of the Manifold valley, the influence of the Basri railway in India, through to the personalities that led to the creation of the railway, its construction and operation, the design of the locomotives and rolling stock, and interaction with its location. The many photographs are very well presented, as are the maps and diagrams. The full colour drawings of the locomotives and stock in the various liveries are very well presented, and an absolute boon to model makers. This work will surely become a classic reference in time to come. Thoroughly reccomended. ISBN-10: 0953876373 ISBN-13: 978-0953876372 Eisebahn Feldbahnen railways

I must admit that I have long been put off purchasing this book due to the somewhat high price tag. However, I have just taken the plunge and now wish that I had done so when the first book was published. Don`t be deceived by the apparent size of the photos - this is a large format book (almost A4 and best part of an inch thick with just over 350 pages) - and it needs to be to facilitate presentation of the excellent engineering drawings at a scales ranging from 16mm =1ft through to 4mm = 1ft. These feature not only the various locomotives and rolling stock but also track construction, some buildings, the tunnel portals and even fencing! Colour representations of the trains in each of the three main liveries used are also thoughtfully presented, including the NSR Madder Lake period which is not so well known. For those wishing to build models of the line this book is a treasure-trove of information and detail. The fact that the author worked on with BR`s Permanent Way Department for some time might have something to do with the excellent quality of the drawings! The paper used is quite thick and slightly glossy, which gives a beautiful presentation of the many photographs, some of which are quite new to me despite many years of researching the history of the line. The depth of detail in the various chapters of the book can only be described as outstanding. This book should become THE standard by which ALL other railway histories or documentaries should be measured and can only salute the author, Mr Robert Gratton, on his fantastic achievement. My only regret is that it appears to be currently out of print. Indeed, I have already paid over the original publishers price to get my copy and expect this book to become a well sought after collectors item - it certainly deserves to be one. I can only hope that the publishers will take note and do another print run in the near future. The Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway, had it lasted until the mid to late fifties would have probably have been a strong contender for railway preservation. However with just a short life of thirty years from its opening in 1904 to its closure in 1934, railway preservation had not even been thought of, in those early years. The railway ran from Waterhouses( 9 miles from Leek, Staffordshire) to Hulme End in the Staffordshire Moorlands, for a distance of eight and a half miles through the beautiful Manifold Valley in the heart of the Peak District. It was quite unusual as far as Narrow Guage Railways are designed, with a track gauge of 2ft 6ins and unsual, because of its purpose of being able to transport standard gauge railway wagons, loaded onto specially designed narrow gauge flat wagons which were built specially for this railway. The standard gauge wagons were loaded onto the narrow gauge wagons at Waterhoues, where the railway connected to the Leek to Waterhouses main line. These were then taken along the valley and off loaded at several staions throughout the valley, onto short sections of standard gauge track which was laid on a raised platform at most of the stations along the valley. The larger wagons were hand pushed off the narrow gauge wagons onto these short sections of standard gauge track, so that their contents could be unloaded to supply all the farms situated in this remote part of the Manifold Valley, where roads were steep and just simple cart tracks, inaccessable to ordinary road vehicles. The empty wagons or reloaded wagons could then be returned to Waterhouses for collection by the standard gauge locos and sent to various destinations throughout the rail network. The main purpose of transporting these goods though, was for milk, which was collected from farms and taken to the Ecton Milk Factory. From here the treated milk was loaded into standard gauge glass lined milk tankers, which were then taken to Waterhouses to be assembled into trains, which took the milk to Finsbury Park in London. This was run on a daily basis every morning, which lasted until 1928, when the factory at Ecton finally closed. The L.&.M.V.L.Rly only ever had two locomotives which were rather large engines for a narrow gauge line, these were named E.R. Calthrop(No1) & J.B. Earle(No2), named after the railways designer and chief engineer. They were of Indian design (after the Barsi Light Railway which was built in India in the 1890s by E.R.Calthrop) before the L.& M.V.L.Rly was begun. The locos were built by Kitsons of Leeds, who also built the slightly larger Barsi Light Railway locomotives. Besides the seven transporter wagons, there was also a lare bogie box van for produce and four large bogie coaches with unusual sloping shed type roofs and open balconies with wrought iron railings. These consisted of two first/third class carriages & two brake/thirds. These were used on a daily basis throughout the life of the railway making two and sometimes three return journeys each day with extra journeys during the summer bank holidays, which became popular with tourist after the 1st WW. The railway first ran under the ownership of The North Staffordshire Railway Company and was taken over by the LMS in 1923 when the four big railway groups were formed. Due to dwindling passenger numbers and the introduction of the motor vehicles that were now able to access the valley, the railway finally closed in 1934 and two years later the whole track was dismantled and apart from Hulme End Station, and the many bridges that sriss cross the River Manifold, all other buildings were dismantled. There have been many publications about the L.&.M.V.L.Rly over the years but this delightful book published just recently is the best book yet on this magnificent little railway. It is quite a large book with dozens of photos and lots of illustrations and scale drawings, covering all the locos, wagons, carriages, buildings, bridges, track laying dimensions etc etc, as well as many chapters detailing the planing, construction, grand opening, running and history of the railway from raising shares for contruction to final dismantling of this wonderful little railway. Definately a collectors item for all railway enthusiasts and historians alike, it can be refered to as the Bible for the Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway now sadly lost and gone forever. You can still walk the whole length of this eight and a half mile railway today, along the former track bed which was turned into a cycle way during the early sixties. Part of the track bed from Wetton Mill to Hulme End is also a single track road which runs through the only tunnel on the former railway. All the stations are now long gone but are still tracable with the exception of Hulme End Station which was retained for council use (original building), it has now been beautifully restored to its former glory and serves as a Visitor Information Centre for the Manifold Valley. Even the old corrugated engine shed still stands and serves as a vehicle depot for Staffordshire County Council Road Maintenance Dept, which sevice the roads for the local area. Well worth a visit if you are visiting the Peak District. This book will provide hours and hours of reading about this special little narrow gauge railway which never made it into preservation. A gem of a book and fantastic reference guide for this forgotten little railway! This book is a truly stunning publication, in terms of size, format, written and pictorial content. It is difficult to believe that any information regarding the inception, design, construction, operation and the personalities involved with this railway have been missed from this book. The content moves beyond the railway boundary to encompass the needs of the Manifold valley, the influence of the Basri railway in India, through to the personalities that led to the creation of the railway, its construction and operation, the design of the locomotives and rolling stock, and interaction with its location. The many photographs are very well presented, as are the maps and diagrams. The full colour drawings of the locomotives and stock in the various liveries are very well presented, and an absolute boon to model makers. This work will surely become a classic reference in time to come. Thoroughly reccomended. ISBN-10: 0953876373 ISBN-13: 978-0953876372 Eisebahn Feldbahnen railways

Produktart:

📚 Bücher

Autor(en):

Robert Gratton

Anbieter:

BUCHSERVICE / ANTIQUARIAT Lars-Lutzer *** LITERATUR RECHERCHE *** ANTIQUARISCHE SUCHE

Bestell-Nr.:

BN36032

Katalog:

Ratgeber / Heim und Garten

Sammlung(en):