Unlike many United States industries, railroads are intrinsically linked to American soil and particular regions. Yet few Americans pay attention to rail lines, even though millions of them live in an economy and culture "waiting for the train." In Train Time: Railroads and the Imminent Reshaping of the United States Landscape, John R. Stilgoe picks up where his acclaimed work Metropolitan Corridor left off, carrying his ideas about the spatial consequences of railways up to the present moment. Arguing that the train is returning, "an economic and cultural tsunami about to transform the United States," Stilgoe posits a future for railways as powerful shapers of American life. Divided into sections that focus on particular aspects of the impending impact of railroads on the landscape, Train Time moves seamlessly between historical and contemporary analysis. From his reading of what prompted investors to reorient their thinking about the railroad industry in the late 1970s, to his exploration of creative solutions to transportation problems and land use planning and development in the present, Stilgoe expands our perspective of an industry normally associated with bad news. Urging us that "the magic moment is now," he observes, "Now a train is often only a whistle heard far off on a sleepless night. But romantic or foreboding or empowering, the whistle announces return and change to those who listen." For scholars with an interest in American history in general and railroad and transit history in particular, as well as general readers concerned about the future of transportation in the United States, Train Time is an engaging look at the future of our railroads.

The landscape through which railways run is often the inspiration and reason why people choose to model a particular line. Therefore creating a realistic setting in which to operate your railway is an essential aspect of modelling, yet it is often overlooked or left until the last moment. Creating authentic and believable scenery without spending a fortune or buying it 'ready made' is a skill that, with patience and understanding, can be achieved by anyone. In Creating Realistic Landscapes for Model Railways, highly skilled landscape modeller Tony Hill shows you, through step-by-step photo sequences and clear instructions, how you too can re-create a realistic landscape for your model railway. With chapters on modelling trees, grass, water, fences, rock, walls and hedges, this book will tell you everything you need to know to design and create a unique and special setting in which to operate your model railway. Superbly illustrated with 395 colour photographs.

The growth of railways was a major influence in transforming Britain's landscape. This book examines how they brought about physical changes to towns, the country and coast, and had a profound affect that is still visible today, especially on the shape and size of our towns and cities.In his book, Gordon Biddle begins by examining how railway routes transformed the rural scene and there effect on the economy, followed by an appraisal of there accompanying buildings such as stations, houses, signal boxes and yards following the changes in nineteenth-century architectural taste. He goes on to look at the impact of railways build along or near the coast, and their strong influence on the growth of seaside resorts and ports. He then turns to townscape, describing in turn the physical effect on London, other large cities, smaller towns and suburban growth.Also included are chapters on places the railways themselves created, from new towns to villages around a station or junction; the still-visible remains of abandoned railway, not only those that followed mass closures of the 1960s, but many long-standing that date back to the nineteenth century; twentieth- and twenty-first century developments that have continued to impact on the rural and urban scene; and a comparison of contemporary illustrations of an early main line in 1838 with its appearance today.

A breathtaking selection of photographs showcasing railway journeys as a part of the British landscape.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the newly formed country of Czechoslovakia built an ambitious national rail network out of what remained of the obsolete Habsburg system. While conceived as a means of knitting together a young and ethnically diverse nation-state, these railways were by their very nature a transnational phenomenon, and as such they simultaneously articulated and embodied a distinctive Czechoslovak cosmopolitanism. Drawing on evidence ranging from government documents to newsreels to train timetables, Iron Landscapes gives a nuanced account of how planners and authorities balanced these two imperatives, bringing the cultural history of infrastructure into dialogue with the spatial history of Central Europe.

Sunday Times History Book of the Year 2015 Currently filming for BBC programme Full Steam Ahead Britain's railways have been a vital part of national life for nearly 200 years. Transforming lives and landscapes, they have left their mark on everything from timekeeping to tourism. As a self-contained world governed by distinctive rules and traditions, the network also exerts a fascination all its own. From the classical grandeur of Newcastle station to the ceaseless traffic of Clapham Junction, from the mysteries of Brunel's atmospheric railway to the lost routines of the great marshalling yards, Simon Bradley explores the world of Britain's railways, the evolution of the trains, and the changing experiences of passengers and workers. The Victorians' private compartments, railway rugs and footwarmers have made way for air-conditioned carriages with airline-type seating, but the railways remain a giant and diverse anthology of structures from every period, and parts of the system are the oldest in the world. Using fresh research, keen observation and a wealth of cultural references, Bradley weaves from this network a remarkable story of technological achievement, of architecture and engineering, of shifting social classes and gender relations, of safety and crime, of tourism and the changing world of work. The Railways shows us that to travel through Britain by train is to journey through time as well as space.

'One Man's Garden Railways' is a factual, sometimes humorous, account of a fifty year odyssey building and running ride-on garden railways. Over forty photographs and drawings illustrate the various topics covered. Links to YouTube videos further enhance the readers experience of this somewhat eccentric hobby. As well as an entertaining personal history, this book aims to show inexpensive ways the reader with some DIY skills can construct a ride-on railway in their own garden, however small. You too, could be sashaying through the garden shrubbery in the dusk of a summer's evening or transporting children on a 'Santa special' through a starry Christmas Eve landscape. This book can inspire and assist you to achieve your dream.