Readers of Engineering Capacity can save 25% on a new book featuring magnificent engineering drawings, spanning two centuries, that give unique insights and perspectives on the history of our railways.
The advent of railways in Britain was a fundamental part of its economic and social revolution in the 19th century, with technical advances that were the envy of the world and chronicled from the beginning through meticulous drawings.
Detailed plans were created of locomotives, carriages and wagons, as well as of stations, bridges and tunnels, to facilitate the manufacturing process and the maintenance of the rapidly expanding railway network.
Miraculously, about a million of these magnificent drawings have survived and are held at the National Railway Museum in York, as part of the Science Museum Group’s collection.
Over the past five years author Christopher Valkoinen has selected more than 130 of the best examples which are recreated together in this unique volume for the first time.
The illustrations tell the engineering history of great innovations and triumphs such as the Forth Bridge, and reveal the work of famous pioneers, including Richard Trevithick, George and Robert Stephenson, and Nigel Gresley of Flying Scotsman and Mallard fame.
Other plans range from Queen Victoria’s royal saloon and a travelling post office to a station tea-room at York and modern experiments with a hovertrain.
There are also drawings for railways around the world: the USA, Russia, Japan, India, Australia and Egypt, among others, as well as contemporary photographs and posters.
Throughout, Valkoinen provides valuable insights into the social and political impact of the railways.
He also reveals how these drawings are more than a reference tool for the historian or modelmaker; they are exquisite works of art, painstakingly produced by highly skilled artists in a pre-digital age, which can be appreciated in their own right.
Author and railway historian Christian Wolmar commented: “It would be difficult to find a completely original book on the railways that informs and surprises in equal measure, but this is it. . . this richly illustrated book uncovers a new way of looking at the invention that changed the world”
Christopher Valkoinen works in the Search Engine library and archives at the National Railway Museum in York, where he manages the digitisation of engineering drawings and other archive materials. He is also a qualified steam locomotive fireman.
Published by Taylor and Hudson the usual cost of ‘Railways: A History in Drawings’ is £50.
To find out more visit https://bit.ly/ECRailwaysOffer .
Enter discount code RAILWAYS25 at checkout to get your 25% off.