- Hardcover: 104 pages
- Publisher: Ian Allan Ltd; 2nd Revised edition edition (2 July 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0711033978
- ISBN-13: 978-0711033979
- Product Dimensions: 30 x 21.2 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 250,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Historically, more than a dozen main line termini as well as both surface and underground lines, the railway network of London is without doubt the most complex in the British Isles. From the 1830s onwards, when the first main lines to serve Greater London area were built, a vast network was constructed. In an era when private enterprise dominated the industry, it was inevitable that there would be competing lines but, as London grew both in prosperity and size, so the presence of these routes, that allowed for the growth of suburbs and the shipment of the vast amounts of food consumed by the city's population, became all the more important. Most of the main line railways terminated at the edge of the built-up area at the time they were constructed, leaving access to the very centre of the city to road transport. However, from the 1860s onwards, with the construction of the first part of the future Underground network, railways came to penetrate even the most densely constructed parts of the city. In the 21st century, although some lines and stations have disappeared, most notably termini such as Holborn Viaduct and Broad Street, the vast bulk of the London railway network continues to play a pivotal role in the daily life of the city. Moreover, as pressure on the road network expands, there is continuing investment in the railway infrastructure that serves London through, for example, expansion of the Docklands Light Railway. London Rail Atlas provides the reader with a straightforward and comprehensible study of the railways of Greater London. It shows all lines, both open and closed, stations, changes of station name and station opening and closing dates. It provides a comprehensive and authoritative study of the whole network of lines in the capital covering both ex-BR and London Underground tracks. The geographical relationship between the two is also easily ascertained from the maps.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
55 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
There's no denying it, this book fills a rather small niche. I imagine that the vast majority of its buyers will be railway enthusiasts, trainspotters, and model railway builders.
Despite being as none of the above, I love it. On railway journeys, I'm always looking out of the window. Railways take you through the unregarded, unkempt parts of London. You see the backs of things - factories, houses, shops, and parks. You see the strange, isolated triangles of wasteground marginalised by the building of the great brick viaducts that carry the trains through the city and suburbs. And you see other railways. Some of them still carry trains, others are ghosts of sidings and lines abandoned years ago.
The London Railway Atlas in its elegantly created maps shows the routes of all London's railway lines, past and present. Everything is there: goods yards, stations, sidings. Some of these still exist, others stand empty or have been erased from the landscape. Combined with an A to Z, it begins to give you an understanding of why the map of London looks like it does.
An example: I used to rent a flat just north-west of Hammersmith. Looking at the map, my flatmate and I could see the ghost of a railway line curving through the streets to the north. Otherwise regular roads were truncated, but by what? I now discover that this was the path taken by the Hammersmith and Chiswick Branch of the North and South West Junction Railway (1857-1965).
The book is well produced, the maps are elegant. Crowded areas around junctions and termini are given enlarged insets. The second half of the book contains facts and figures about all lines.
This book isn't for everyone, but you don't have to have a shelf full of railway books to appreciate it.
Despite being as none of the above, I love it. On railway journeys, I'm always looking out of the window. Railways take you through the unregarded, unkempt parts of London. You see the backs of things - factories, houses, shops, and parks. You see the strange, isolated triangles of wasteground marginalised by the building of the great brick viaducts that carry the trains through the city and suburbs. And you see other railways. Some of them still carry trains, others are ghosts of sidings and lines abandoned years ago.
The London Railway Atlas in its elegantly created maps shows the routes of all London's railway lines, past and present. Everything is there: goods yards, stations, sidings. Some of these still exist, others stand empty or have been erased from the landscape. Combined with an A to Z, it begins to give you an understanding of why the map of London looks like it does.
An example: I used to rent a flat just north-west of Hammersmith. Looking at the map, my flatmate and I could see the ghost of a railway line curving through the streets to the north. Otherwise regular roads were truncated, but by what? I now discover that this was the path taken by the Hammersmith and Chiswick Branch of the North and South West Junction Railway (1857-1965).
The book is well produced, the maps are elegant. Crowded areas around junctions and termini are given enlarged insets. The second half of the book contains facts and figures about all lines.
This book isn't for everyone, but you don't have to have a shelf full of railway books to appreciate it.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As cheeky as it is to write my own 5-star review, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who purchased the first edition of the London Railway Atlas, and to impress how radically I have overhauled the format for this second edition.
I have painstakingly re-drawn the entire work such that now every single track and platform have been mapped, so it is in many ways a combination of a 'Quail' track diagram with S K Baker's Railway Atlas. I have added much more information in terms of goods yards and railway-served industrial sites from review of old Ordnance Survey maps, and have added several more larger-scale inset maps of more complex areas.
This added detail has necessitated an increase in size of the book to A4, so all in all it does look and feel very different to the first edition and if I say so myself is a far superior product.
If you bought the first edition and enjoyed it, again thank you... I am certain that you will be impressed by this second edition.
Thank you, Joe Brown
I have painstakingly re-drawn the entire work such that now every single track and platform have been mapped, so it is in many ways a combination of a 'Quail' track diagram with S K Baker's Railway Atlas. I have added much more information in terms of goods yards and railway-served industrial sites from review of old Ordnance Survey maps, and have added several more larger-scale inset maps of more complex areas.
This added detail has necessitated an increase in size of the book to A4, so all in all it does look and feel very different to the first edition and if I say so myself is a far superior product.
If you bought the first edition and enjoyed it, again thank you... I am certain that you will be impressed by this second edition.
Thank you, Joe Brown
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Joe Brown has gone a long way to addressing two of the usual problems which have been apparent with many previous publications of this kind.
1. The regular need to use such an atlas in conjunction with other reference data in order to get a more comprehensive picture of a particular location.
2. The difficulty in deciphering exactly 'what's going on' in some of the more complex areas.
The incorporation of what was, what is and what will be, along with dates opened, dates closed, helpful explanatory notes and nice touches such as the former names of stations, combined with a cleverly chosen colour scheme, makes using this atlas a real pleasure.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Another Enthusiast's Dream
Brilliant book, especially for a Londoner who finds the London railway network fascinating - me!
Buy it - you won't be disappointed.
Buy it - you won't be disappointed.
Published 5 months ago by MICHAEL J. O'CONNELL
Well Worth Having
The London Railway Atlas is a handy reference book. The layout is very similar to the old style A-Z road atlases. Read more
Published 7 months ago by donrajah
Brilliant
I admit to only having the 2006 edition, but I find that I am constantly peering into it for some tiny point of railway detail that I have seen or read about. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mad Bookie
Very interesting
A very interesting book.
Full of details about the history of every track.
Only question is about the division of every map:
about the northern highs line, it is... Read more
Full of details about the history of every track.
Only question is about the division of every map:
about the northern highs line, it is... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Marco Maria Lucchetti
Hours of fun
OK - you got as far as this page on Amazon, and scrolled down to the reviews so we can take it that your interests are such that you like this sort of thing. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Pangolin
London Railway Atlas
For the avid rail enthusiast of modern immage railways in London, this book is invaluable. Clarity is excellent. Highly recomended.
Published 17 months ago by j.hall391
London Railway Atlas
An excellent book describing the layout and origins of Londons railways. As a Londoner I was amazed to discover the complexity of the railways that weave their way through and... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Dr. G. L. Orriss
Reliving the past
Having recently retired I set out to fulfill an ambition of mine and visit all the stations in the London area, often for the first time since a kid in the fities. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mr. Graham C. Parkes
Brilliant+++++
This is a really great book, for planning journeys, using with Rail Simulation games or just an interesting read. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2010 by Ben
An astonishing achievement
I'm not a hard core railway enthusiast but when travelling by rail through London I am filled with curiosity when I see branch lines or old trackbeds wandering off in one direction... Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2010 by mrzi1234
Listmania!
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