Frank Carlson Library

After the Second World War, Britain's railways were rundown and worn out, requiring massive investment and modernization. The 'Big Four' railway companies were nationalized from 1948 and the newly formed British Railways embarked on a program of building new 'Standard' steam locomotives to replace older types. These started to come on stream from 1951. This program was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselize and electrify many lines, and so, the...

Brief text and illustrations present a variety of trains and what they do.

As the nation recovers from the Civil War, Sky and Rebekah Winslow's wayward son Mark is slowly making his way north through Texas after his release from a Mexican prison. Headed for Omaha to work for the Union Pacific Railroad, he is forced to shoot a man, then thrown into jail to await his prison sentence. In a small Texas town where justice will not be served, Mark's only hope is the young woman whom he defended. Lola Montez had attempted to escape...

Serious but engaging history of 15 interurban lines that once crisscrossed Kansas. This well-written and researched book set the standard for traction histories. Railways covered include the Iola Electric, the Kansas City, Leavenworth & Western, the Consolidated Street Rwy., the Junction City & Fort Riley, the Southwest Missouri, the Joplin & Pittsburgh, the Kansas City, Lawrence & Topeka, the Manhattan City and Interurban, the Union Traction-Union...

The adventures of the Alden family as they ride across country in a caboose that has a strange history---or is it a mystery?

In the 1950s and 1960s the railway system in Ireland became a magnet for enthusiasts from Great Britain who realized that, as on the mainland, a way of life was fast disappearing as diesel traction replaced steam and the size of the rail network across Ireland was shrinking. Much of the interest stemmed from the similarity with the railways in Great Britain. Also, the existence of several narrow gauge systems, two railway-owned tramways and some cross-border...

The Severn Valley Railway has long been considered by many to be Britain’s premier heritage railway. That reputation was earned early thanks to the quality of locomotive and carriage restoration, the careful refurbishment of stations and the standard of service offered to visitors. As with all heritage railways, it has had to adapt to changing expectations over the years whilst attempting to keep the original aims of railway preservation at the...

Celebrate the days when trains were trains, individual expresses had their own character, serving their passengers in style in restaurant car, and connecting services ran over picturesque branch lines that were a very part of the countryside they served. Railway Season by David St. John Thomas whose Country Railway sold an astonishing 170,000 copies, captures all our railway yesterdays with panache. This is indeed a railway book like no other, a portfolio...

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...