This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Liverpool’s railways have changed and developed over the last century.

Much has been written about the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, especially how it came into being and the Rainhill Trials, but very little has been said about what happened after the grand opening on 15 September 1830.Drawing on years of research, and practical experience of working with the replica of Stephenson's Planet, this book shows how the Liverpool & Manchester Railway worked in its day-to-day operations, including passenger and goods working, timetabling, signalling and when things went wrong.Chapters will describe what it was like to work and travel on the railway, and will study the evolution of passenger accommodation, working and safety practices. Finally the book looks at how the Liverpool & Manchester fits into the wider picture, how its operational practices, rules and regulations, became the basis of national practices in 1841.

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Liverpool has changed and developed over the last century.

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which the centre of Liverpool has changed and developed over the last century.

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Liverpool Landing Stage has changed and developed over the last century.

The Liverpool & Manchester Railway was Britain’s first mainline, intercity railway; opened in 1830 it was at the cutting edge of railway technology. Engineered by George Stephenson and his team – John Dixon, William Allcard, Joseph Locke – the project faced many obstacles both before and after opening, including local opposition and the choice of motive power, resulting in the Rainhill Trials of 1829. Much of the success of the line can be attributed to the excellence of its engineering but also its fleet of pioneering locomotives built by Robert Stephenson & Co. of Newcastle. This is the story of those locomotives, and the men who worked on them, at a time when the locomotive was still in its infancy. Using extensive archival research, coupled with lessons learned from operating early replica locomotives such as Rocket and Planet, Anthony Dawson explores how the locomotive rapidly developed in response to the demands of the first intercity railway, and some of the technological dead ends along the way.

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which the capital’s major railway stations have changed and developed over the years.