Industrial Railways of St Helens, Widnes and Warrington - Part Two - St Helens Coalfield and the Sandfields, by C.H.A Townley and J.A. Peden
Published by the Industrial Railway Society in 2002, 308 pages (Pagination continued from Part One). Hardback - c.17cm by 23.5cm (N6041)
Brand New Book
From the front inside fly leaf: In their history of the Industrial Railways of St Helens, Widnes and Warrington the authors continue their exploration of the lines which served factories and collieries in what, until the local government reorganisation of the 1970s, used to be South Lancashire.
The authors have had access to important and not previously published archives relating to Pilkington Brothers and other local firms. This has provided much of the material for the present study and will be of great interest to industrial archaeologists, as well as railway historians.
The book tells the story of the industrial railways and locomotives that worked on the St Helens Coalfield. These included various small coal pits served by obscure tramways and more modern collieries. The history of the local locomotive builders is recounted and a works list of Burrows' locomotives is included. A whole chapter is devoted to the famous Haydock Collieries system of Richard Evans. Other industrial premises with railways are covered ranging from glass works to peat extraction and a sugar factory. Narrow gauge enthusiasts will particularly welcome the first published detailed account of Pilkington Brothers' 2 feet gauge sand railways.
As in their previous books on the Wigan Coalfield and Bolton, Bury and the Manchester Coalfield, each chapter is followed by a table listing information on all of the locomotives used in the area. Sources are fully referenced so that anyone who wishes to pursue a more detailed study of the topics in the book can readily do so. The text is complemented by 60 maps and 69 photographs.
| Condition | New |