This fantastic guide traces the history of, arguably, the most popular heritage railway in Britain from the origins of the line in the 1830s through the good, bad and controversial times, up to the present day. Every year since 1973, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) has transported hundreds of thousands of visitors in preserved steam and diesel-hauled trains between Pickering and Grosmont through an ancient landscape of unmatched beauty. When those trains started to run regularly to and from Whitby in 2007, it revived a service started by the Whitby & Pickering Railway Company back in 1836. The history of the NYMR is a fascinating one that will do well to be remembered. This book explores the journey, development and changes of the NYMR and is a fantastic guide to how the railway industry has changed over time.

The British railway network was a monument to Victorian private enterprise. Its masterpieces of civil engineering were emulated around the world. But its performance was controversial: praised for promoting a high density of lines, it was also criticised for wasteful duplication of routes. This is the first history of the British railway system written from a modern economic perspective. It uses conterfactual analysis to construct an alternaive network to represent the most efficient alternative rail network that could have been constructed given what was known at the time - the first time this has been done. It reveals how weaknesses in regulation and defects in government policy resulted in enormous inefficiency in the Victorian system that Britain lives with today. British railway companies developed into powerful regional monopolies, which then contested each other's territories. When denied access to existing lines in rival territories, they built duplicate lines instead. Plans for an integrated national system, sponsored by William Gladstone, were blocked by Members of Parliament because of a perceived conflict with the local interests they represented. Each town wanted more railways than its neighbours, and so too many lines were built. The costs of these surplus lines led ultimately to higher fares and freight charges, which impaired the performance of the economy. The book will be the definitive source of reference for those interested in the economic history of the British railway system. It makes use of a major new historical source, deposited railway plans, integrates transport and local history through its regional analysis of the railway system, and provides a comprehensive, classified bibliography.

Written by the General Manager of the Railway, this is an in-depth historical survey of one of the oldest of Britain's commercial railways and most successful of its more recently preserved lines. The book is packed with photographs revealing all the locomotives and rolling stock that are used on services over the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in its new and highly successful life as a preserved line. It is an ideal book not only for railway historians, but also for those who have travelled on the line and are eager to learn more about its history.

Covering the length and breadth of Great Britainfrom stately homes to charming landscapes and treasures of art and historythe Automobile Association of England's definitive guide provides a wealth of information on more than 500 of the country's most attractive, interesting, and historic destinations. Full-color photos, illustrations, and maps throughout.