English Narrow Gauge Album Volume 2

This album is the second of two volumes covering featuring the extraordinary breadth and individuality of narrow gauge railways in England, ranging from the remarkable Redruth & Chasewater Railway and the much loved Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in Devon to the Ashover Light Railway and industrial lines such as Holman F. Stephens Snailbeach Line in the Shropshire Stiperstones.

All profusely illustrated to show the variety of steam locomotives and their operating environment, with many historic pictures never published before. The theme of this book considers the development of narrow gauge railways in England, within the political, legal, economic and social frameworks in the 19th and 20th centuries and often by individuals with considerable prowess. Narrow gauge railways in England were largely built for three different purposes: industrial, military and as common carriers built to connect communities left out of the railway mania construction of the 19th century. By the outbreak of the First World War there were ominous warnings that road transport might provide a better bet than the narrow gauge railway.

This war largely stopped any further significant advancement of the narrow gauge and the public lines in Britain began to struggle financially. The Second World War pushed many of these enterprises into bankruptcy as labour and materials were diverted to the war effort. During and immediately after the war, the majority of the remaining lines closed. For the railway enthusiast, however, English narrow gauge railways were to prove welcome news, as each developed its own idiosyncratic character as well as being operated by a wide range of different and largely attractive steam locomotives and rolling stock. This endured them to history if not commerce.

This volume includes chapters on the industrial railways of Devon and Cornwall, the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, the Hampton & Kempton Waterworks Railway, Jersey Railway, Chattenden & Upnor Railway, Post Office Railway, Wolverton & Stony Stratford tramway, Snailbeach Railway, Ashover Light Railway, Furzebrook Railway, Beyer, Peacock, Fletcher Jennings and Betchworth Quarry, Northamptonshire Ironstone Railways and early preservation initiatives.