Locomotives of the Victorian Railway- The Early Days of Steam

In the quarter of a century between 1830 and 1855, the railway locomotive developed from the small sisters of Rocket to the Bloomer class of James McConnell, with a boiler pressure twice that of Rocket and weighing in at nearly 30 tons (seven times the weight of Rocket). There was a marked increase in loads, speeds and reliability as the railways spread across the country from their cradle in the North West, with several thousands of miles of track being laid. Here, Anthony Dawson charts the rise and development of the steam locomotive in this crucial period in the development of the railways. Drawing on first-hand accounts, and using case studies based on specific classes of locomotive and their working replicas, this is a fascinating and well-illustrated insight into a period of engineering ingenuity and genius.