Britain was the pioneering force behind the birth of the steam locomotive. This authoritative visual reference spans over 150 years of railway history, featuring 85 class profiles, a comprehensive glossary and over 200 photographs.

Explore a fascinating look at the history of one of the most iconic machines of all time - the British steam locomotive.

The golden age of the steam locomotive came to an end in the late 1960's, but steam trains have continued to enthral people of all ages ever since. With 150 full-colour and rare black-and-white photographs, this work takes reader through different types of train.

Excerpt from British Locomotives: Their History, Construction, and Modern Development Again, there may be other people who would like to know more about locomotives without caring to go minutely into details of construction. The author hopes that to such persons the historical chapters, and those on modern engines, may prove interesting. In them the reader assisted by illustrations entirely of a pictorial character will be able to trace the history of the locomotive from the commencement of its career down to the latest creations of the most celebrated engineers of the present day. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

After the Second World War, the drive for the modernisation of Britain's railways ushered in a new breed of locomotive: the Diesel. Diesel-powered trains had been around for some time, but faced with a coal crisis and the Clean Air Act in the 1950s, it was seen as a part of the solution for British Rail. This beautifully illustrated book, written by an expert on rail history, charts the rise and decline of Britain's diesel-powered locomotives. It covers a period of great change and experimentation, where the iconic steam engines that had dominated for a century were replaced by a series of modern diesels including the ill-fated 'Westerns' and the more successful 'Deltics'.