1825 saw the opening of the first part of Britain’s passenger rail network, and as with any new transport scheme, financing was crucial and came with a high degree of risk. The limitations in technology that were then available posed another major challenge, with locomotive power then still being at the experimental stage. At this time, existing railways were mainly used for freight, with traction being provided by horses or stationary engines. What emerged from these circumstances were independently financed schemes based on innovative engineering.
The British parliament was at the heart of the process. It sanctioned each railway and was instrumental in setting regulations and new standards for operation. With the success of early schemes came a greater incentive to invest in new projects, and such was the clamour for new railways that parliament had to select the most promising concepts, thereby laying the foundations for the railway network.
This first volume of The Great Railway Speculations concentrates on the early years of the creation of the Midland Railway Network, between 1825 and 1847, when the risks were high and returns higher, and the government, realising the momentous changes that were afoot, tried to keep pace. As well as the Midland Railway itself, the networks of other railway companies that operated across the Midlands, such as the London & North Western and the Bristol & Birmingham Railway, are also covered.
The book is well illustrated with copies of old maps and drawings as well as present day black & white photographs of surviving stations and infrastructure. Hardback. 184 pages.