Lines of Character by L.T.C. Rolt and P.B Whitehouse Great Britain Ireland w/ DJ
Lines of Character by L.T.C. Rolt and P.B Whitehouse Exploration of the remote and lesser known outposts and byways of the railway systems of Great Britain & Ireland
Hard Cover w/ dust jacket (has minor damage)
188 pages
Copyright 1952
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION PAGE 9
Chapter OneENGLAND17
Chapter TwoWALES67
Chapter ThreeSCOTLAND AND THE ISLE OF MAN 105
Chapter FourIRELAND136
ILLUSTRATIONS
FRONTISPIECEBy-way of the far west : The monthly cattle special crosses Lispole Viaduct ; Tralee and Dingle section of Coras Iompair Eireann.
INSET ONE between pages 32-33
PLATE
1 (a) Last of her line : Skylark, the last of the G.W.R. "Bulldog" class, draws a Stephenson Locomotive Society special train from Birmingham to Swindon.
(b) North-Western 0-8-0 goods engines may still be seen on their main line. Note also the typical L. & N.W.R. signal and water tank.
2 (a) Midland Atmosphere : Smoke, steam, and storm on the Lickey incline.
(b) One of the few remaining L.N.W.R. " Cauliflowers " passing Bassenthwaite Lake between Cockermouth and Penrith.
3 (a) A typical country branch terminus : Coalport, Shropshire ; train for Wellington about to depart.
(b) Changing the staff on the single line branch from Longbridge to Halesowen.
4 (a) The old order changes : a G.W.R. " Dean " 0-6-0 on the old Midland Railway branch from Hereford to Brecon.
(b) The Ashover Light Railway : " Baldwin " 4-6-o tank engine Joan.
5 (a) The Mid Suffolk Light Railway in L.N.E.R. days : ex G.E.R. J 15 class 0-6-0 and train at Laxfleld.
(b) Survivor of an almost extinct locomotive type : An ex G.E.R. " Intermediate " 2-4-0 leaving Fordham Junction with a train from Milden-hall to Cambridge.
(c) East Anglian scene : Ex G.E.R. 0-6-0, now class J 15, at Homersfield, Suffolk.
6 (a) Ventnor West Station, I.O.W. in 1888 : ex L.B.S.C.R. 0-6-0 " Terrier" tank engine of the Isle of Wight Central Railway.
(b) Ventnor West Station, I.O.W. in 1948 : ex L.S.W.R. 0-4-4 tank engine of British Railways taking water.
7 In the Western Marches : G.W.R. 58xx Class 0-4-2 tank engine at Bromyard on a train to Leominster.
8 (a) Rails to the High Peak : Middleton Incline, Cromford and High Peak section, L.M.R.
(b) Full Regulator : Two ex North London Railway 0-6-0 tank engines rush the I in 14 Hopton Incline, Cromford and High Peak section, L.M.R.
9 (a) Kent and East Sussex Railway : Train entering Rolvenden behind Stroudley " Terrier " tank engine No. 3.
(b) Featherweight East Anglian : Gazelle at Kinnerley, Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway. (Photo : H. C. Casserley).
10 (a) "Like the station of some ghost town in the American Middle West": Kinnerley Junction before the Colonel Stephens r. (Photo : L.& G.R.P. No. 2821.)
(b) Bishops Castle Railway : 0-6-0 locomotive Carlisle.(Photo : H. C. Casserley.)
11 (a) " The Shakespeare Route " : Harvard Special (Great Central coaches) at Stratford-on-Avon S.M.J. station, 6th October, 1909. (Photo: L. & G.R.P. No. 25899.)
(b) The S.M. J. in L.M.S. days ; a train near Kineton. (Photo : H. C. Casserley.)
12 Through the Cotswolds: the M.S.W.J.R. in Great Western days. Locomotive No. 1011, ex M.S.W.J.R., enters Withington Station on an up local train. (Photo : L. & G.R.P. No. 700.)
13 (a) Unusual partnership : Southbound train near Midford on the Somerset and Dorset section.
(b) Somerset and Dorset section : ex Midland Railway 0-4-4 tank engine on train from Highbridge to Evercreech Junction.
14 (a) Strange visitor: a G.W.R. diesel railcar at Coleford, Forest of Dean, Birmingham Locomotive Club special excursion.
(b) The Leek and Manifold Railway in its early days. (Photo : Loco. Pub. Co.)
15 (a) West Country narrow-gauge : The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway in its independent days. Locomotive Exe at Lynton. (Photo : L. & G.R.P. No. 26097.)
(b) The Lynton and Barnstaple in the Southern Railway era : Locomotive Taw about to depart from Barnstaple Town (Photo : L. & G.R.P. No. 5058.)
(c) North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway : Train at Torrington about to depart for Halwill Junction.
INSET TWO between pages 80-81
16 (a) Survivors of the old Cambrian : Two ex Cambrian Railway 0-6-0's on a Barmouth train at Dovey Junction, in G.W.R. days.
(b) On the Tanat Valley Line : ex Cambrian Railway 2-4-0 tank engine heads the branch train.
(c) On the Mid-Wales line : an ex Cambrian Railway 0-6-0 at Three Cocks Junction.
17 (a) Cambrian narrow-gauge : Welshpool and Llanfair train at Castle Caerinion. Locomotive Countess as altered by the G.W.R.
(b) Cambrian narrow-gauge : Vale of Rheidol train taking water on the ascent to Devil's Bridge.
(c) Mountaineering on the Brecon and Merthyr section, W. R.: train leaving Torpantau summit.
18 (a) Father of all narrow-gauge railways : Double Fairlie locomotive Merddin Emrys at Tan-y-Bwlch, Festiniog Railway.
(b) Enterprise on the a ft. gauge : Festiniog Railway locomotive Welsh Pony coupled to Buffet car at Beddgelert station, Welsh Highland Railway. (Photo : L. T. C. Rolt.)
19 (a) Active Veteran : the eighty-six year old locomotive Dolgoch hauls her train over Dolgoch viaduct, Talyllyn Railway.
(b) Talyllyn Railway newcomer : Ex Corris Railway locomotive No. 3 as renovated under the auspices of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society.
20 (a) The Glyn Valley Tramway, past and present : Locomotive Sir Theodore at Glynceiriog. (Photo : H. C. Casserley.)
(b) The Glyn Valley Tramway, past and present : Four-wheeled coach body in use as a shed at Chirk.
INSET THREE between pages 112-113
21 (a) Highland Railway : Trains passing at Achnashellach on the line to the Kyle. (Photo : H. C. Casserley.)
(b) Great North of Scotland section : Trains passing on the Speyside Branch.
22 Forres to Keith train at Elgin : ex Caledonian Pickersgill 4-4-0 locomotive.
23 (a) Lochgorm Works of the ex Highland Railway : " Clan Goods " 4-6-0 in the foreground.
(b) Highland grandiloquence : the approach to the shed at Inverness.
24 Highland Light Railway : Train from Dornoch approaching The Mound ex Highland Railway 0-4-4 Drummond tank engine.
25 (a) Old Highlander : " Small Ben " class 4-4-0 Ben Alder at Georgemas Junction, October, 1951.
(b) Furthest North : " Small Ben " class Locomotive Ben Wyvis with stove pipe chimney at Thurso.
26 (a) On the Speyside line : An ex Great North of Scotland 4-4-0 of the D 42 class.
(b) Manxmen : Preparing for the day's work at Douglas Shed, Isle of Man Railway.
INSET FOUR between pages 160-161
27 (a) Furthest west in Europe : the Valentia Harbour Branch of Coras Iompair Eireann.
(b) Shades of the old North Western: six-wheeled coach in L.N.W.R. livery, Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway.
28 (a) "Immaculate livery of sky-blue and scarlet " : Great Northern Railway (Ireland) 4-4-0 locomotive at Fintona Junction Northern Ireland.
(b) Minor Railway : Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway 0-6-4 tank locomotive Lough Erne at Belcoo, Northern Ireland.
29 (a) " Time enough " : The horse tram leaves Fintona Town station, Northern Ireland.
(b) Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway : Goods train for the Buncrana branch at Tooban Junction.
30 (a) County Donegal Railways : The daily goods from Killybegs and Donegal at Stranorlar ; locomotive Columbkille.
(b) County Donegal Railways : A diesel railcar on the Ballyshannon Branch.
31 (a) Ballycastle Branch, Ulster Transport Authority: Train, including narrow-gauge corridor coaches, about to leave Ballycastle.
(b) Belfast and County Down Railway : 4-4-2 tank locomotive No. 15 on Donaghadee train at Comber.
(c) On the Cavan and Leitrim : Arigna branch train at Drumshambo ; 4-4-0 tank locomotive No. 3L.
32 (a) In the wilds of Connacht : A goods train on the West Clare line near Corofin; 0-6-2 tank locomotive No. 6.
(b) Tralee to Dingle ; Empty cattle special drawn by locomotives IT and 2T taking water at Anascaul.
ON THE BACK COVER:
Mr. L. T. C. Rolt, author of Inland Waterways of England and Horseless Carriage, has turned from canals and vintage motor cars to railways. Lines of Character is no specialised book overburdened with technicalities. On the contrary it has been written in a manner which is bound to appeal to anyone who enjoys a railway journey or who has ever succumbed to the lure of that most fascinating and characterful machine-the steam locomotive.
Although the great main lines are not wholly ignored, Mr. Rolt has been more concerned to explore the remote and lesser known outposts and byways of our railway system. With sympathy and charm he explores the bucolic branch lines which, with the passing of the years, have become a part of rural England ; the romantic Grampian route of the old Highland line to the North of Scotland ; the narrow gauge railways of the Welsh Highlands and of Western Ireland. Here he has found that fascination of diversity and individual character which is fast disappearing from the busier main lines as a result of amalgamation and nationalisation.
The book has been written in collaboration with Mr. P. B. Whitehouse, a fellow enthusiast and a gifted photographer. His pictures, many of which were taken especially to illustrate Lines of Character, have captured the unique atmosphere of these railway byways and so make a most fitting accompaniment to the text.
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