Hardback with dust jacket, dust jacket slightly faded due to sunlight. 194pp. Illustrated. This book is from the author’s surplus collection so has never been read. It includes a list of Addenda and Errata pasted into the back which adds interest.

Among the extensive literature on the origins and early history of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, there has been a conspicuous lack of any balanced account of the whole 150 years since the opening day in 1825. This book now traces the story from the building of the original route, through the years of expansion  by the floating of subsidiary companies to build new lines, up to the nominal amalgamation with the North Eastern Railway in 1863. Independence lasted in most respects, however, for a further 13 years before the NER’s influence began to assert itself. The next 99 years saw the climax of mining activities in the North-East followed by the industrial recession during the London and North Eastern’s reign – typified by the abandonment of the NER’s pioneer freight traffic electrification. The historical section of the book concludes with an account of the extensive closures and modernisations of recent years.

Two chapters are devoted to freight and passenger traffic. The pattern of sources and destinations of mineral traffic is described, and the development of the passenger timetables is followed over the years.