Main Lines

The Channel Tunnel and its High Speed Links	Oakwood
Nicholas Comfort	Ł19.95	256 pages	Softback	2006
The complicated and still evolving story of a railway system that is the complete antithesis of the meandering country routes normally featured here. Written by someone who has had a fairly close professional interest in the project, it is a well researched and referenced compendium of the Channel Tunnel's conception, construction and operation. It also explains in detail the infrastructure and operational ramifications that the tunnel has created, together with an intelligent explanation and discussion of the wider issues that more than a decade of operation have raised. It seems sad that there appears to be no celebration, in the UK at least, of the huge engineering achievement and great potential of the tunnel. We would rather squabble about the route of the high speed link and focus on our follies. Perhaps its use as part of the Olympics in 2012 will help redress the balance?

Woodhead (Part One)	Foxline
E.M. Johnson	Ł12.95	128 pages	Softback	1996
Covering the route from Manchester as far east as Woodhead, this is a splendid album of high quality photographs. With extended and highly informative captions, all eras are covered from Sacre tanks to Rail Blue electrics. It is hard to believe that this heavily engineered main line no longer reaches across the Pennines. I visited the sad junctions at Dinting some years ago after the preservation sceme had failed and just after the lines had just been rationalised. The rain came down in sheets and at the end of the line at Hadfield dead colour light signals and wire-less overhead gantries completed the melancholy mood.

Woodhead The Electric Railway	Foxline
E.M. Johnson	Ł17.95	192 pages	Softback	2001
Following on from the same author and publisher's two excellent books on the Woodhead route, this book shows the electric era on the railway in comprehensive detail. Detailed views of construction together with photographs along the route illustrate every aspect, with depots junctions and yards being well featured. The book contains a lot of information and background to the engineering of the electrification, including the Dutch excursions both temporary and permanent of the locomotives - highly interesting.