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Metropolitan Steam by EJS Gadsden 1963 w/dust jacket Metropolitan Railway
Metropolitan Steam by EJS Gadsden 1963 w/dust jacket Metropolitan Railway British
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket
Copyright 1963
By E.J.S. Gadsden
43 pages + 32 pages of plates
CONTENTS
Preface 7
Author's Note 9
1 The Battle of the Gauges11
2 The Famous Beyer Peacocks .15
3 The Small Tank Era 23
4 Some Odd Locomotives 27
5 The Wotton Tramway Engines29
6 The Final Triumph31
7 The Post-War Story36
Bibliography 39
Appendices 40
It is a real pleasure to me that Eric Gadsden has asked me to write a brief preface to his fascinating book, for fascinating it is to those of us who love railways.
I am the complete amateur with no qualifications except as a former Director of the Metropolitan Railway. During the First World War, Francis McLaren, M.P., was killed flying; his was an outstanding character and as a keen and knowledgeable Director of the Metropolitan, he was a real loss. It was a huge pleasure to me when the Board asked me to take the place of my old Balliol friend.
My grandiloquent claim to a directorship was that I owned all the land around three of the stations, the most Northern three, Granborough Road, Winslow Road and Verney Junction! My other claim was admiration and enthusiasm for this small railway and all it stood for.
The Board had two remarkable assets, one was a perfect General Manager, R. H. Selbie, whose knowledge and tact-the two things that really matter-were supreme. The other was the Chairmanship of Lord Aberconway, unflappable at a noisy and difficult annual general meeting and never at a loss to answer a question, and in private meetings a wise and far-seeing guide.
For my own part I was allowed to make a special study of punctuality. At our fortnightly board meetings every train two minutes or more late was reported, and that item on the agenda got shorter and shorter. One engine was particularly successful, hardly ever was it two minutes late; a loyal and determined crew and common sense did the trick.
I must avoid controversy, but there was something to be said for such a small railway company. We knew each other, directors and staff, and worked together to achieve a creditable result, a service of which we were proud.
I read the book at a sitting and so will you, for it is well written and full of interest to railway lovers and everyone who knew the old Metropolitan.
H. VERNEY
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