On Mortons Books there are lots of fantastic railway reads available, with many focusing on the history of steam rail.
Flying Scotsman – 100th Anniversary, tells the story of the legend that is Flying Scotsman – the ultimate in British express steam design elegance. It has now been a century since arguably the most famous steam locomotive in history, No 1472 Flying Scotsman, left the Doncaster Works where it was made. Flying Scotsman has now become the one steam engine in the world of which everyone knows the name, and which most people would even recognise. It was briefly the only main line steam engine running in the whole of Britain, and it has travelled across the Atlantic and across America. It has circumnavigated the globe, steamed across Australia, broken the record for a nonstop run with steam (again), and been sold for easily the highest price ever paid for a steam engine.
It’s available to pre-order here, for just £9.99: FLYING SCOTSMAN – 100TH ANNIVERSARY | Mortons Books
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Steam on British Railways finally came to an end officially on August 4, 1968. However, this was not the whole story, as by that time steam locomotives in day-to-day operations were focused in the north-west of the UK. Steam in other areas of the country had been consigned to history over the previous few years.
British Railways Steam the Final Years 1965-1968 celebrates and commemorates those last four dramatic years, recording working locomotives, shed scenes and a selected number of routes – many of which closed during the period under examination – by way of illustrating the disappearing steam age railway. The views in this book are nostalgic, poignant and ones that cannot be repeated.
Thankfully, of course, there was not to be the much-feared total and final death knell for steam, thanks to the valiant efforts of hundreds of enthusiasts/volunteers who have preserved and/or restored both locomotives and lines in the four decades since.
It’s available to pre-order here, for just £30.00: 3207 – BRITISH RAILWAYS STEAM: THE FINAL YEARS, 1965-1968 | Mortons Books
Sadly railway enthusiast and photographer Gerald Adams died recently, but fortunately for lovers of top-quality steam railway images he had earlier planned a book to showcase the best of this work. As a tribute to his memory, and to the memory of the steam age, this book contains more than 300 photographs, fully captioned by Gerald.
The pictures span the years 1955 (when he got his own first camera, having previously used his father’s) to 1966, that momentous final decade when steam was disappearing almost faster than it could be recorded. The area covered by the photographs reflects where Gerald lived during that period, first Birmingham, then Gloucester. As a result, he planned the book to include principally the ‘cathedral counties’ of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, with slight excursions across the county boundaries.
Steaming through three counties is available to buy here, for £25.00: 3504 – STEAMING THROUGH THREE COUNTIES | Mortons Books
There’s many more books to pick your way through, on the Mortons Books website. Take a look at all the railway titles here: Railway Books | Mortons Books
