Latest Products

Great Western Railway - Cheltenham Flyer (Signed copy)

A A new railway book for boys of all ages

The story of the most famous express train in the world. Hauled by the GWR's powerful Castle Class the Cheltenham Flyer established new records for a scheduled service, covering the Swindon to Paddington run at a blistering average speed of 81.6 mph.

What's inside this signed copy of 'Great Western Railway - Cheltenham Flyer'

Originally published by the GWR in 1934 this book not only celebrates the Flyer's iconic status but also explores the workings of a steam locomotive and the day-to-day practicalities of running the railway. More than just a nostalgic railway book for 'boys of all ages', GWR Cheltenham Flyer is packed with the sort of fascinating detail not found elsewhere and is faithfully reproduced in its entirety in this special facsimile edition.

Illustrated with over 200 photographs and diagrams, it includes a new introduction plus supplement section to bring the topics bang up to date.

GWR Cheltenham Flyer is the companion volume to GWR Track Topics.

'Great Western Railway - Cheltenham Flyer' in detail

Editor: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2013
ISBN: 9781445634814
Format: Softback, 256 pages
Size: 198 x 124 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Great Western Railway - Track Topics (Signed copy)

A book of railway engineering for boys of all ages

'The most interesting of all the GWR books ...Track Topics is packed with precious nuggets of useful and insightful information, much of it from a time when the railway was making the difficult transition from its Victorian origins to the fast-changing needs of the twentieth century.’

What's inside this signed copy of 'Great Western Railway - Track Topics'

Originally published in 1935 - the year of the GWR's centenary - Track Topics is the ultimate railway book for 'boys of all ages'. Packed with the sort of fascinating detail covering the building and maintenance of the railway not found elsewhere, it is faithfully reproduced in its entirety in this special facsimile edition.

Illustrated with over 200 photographs and diagrams, it includes a new introduction by Brunel expert John Christopher plus a supplement section to bring the topics bang up to date.

Fully illustrated, it is the companion volume to GWR Cheltenham Flyer.

'Great Western Railway - Track Topics'' in detail

Editor: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2013
ISBN: 9781445623108
Format: Softback, 288 pages
Size: 198 x 124 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - The Minor Lines (Signed copy)

In addition to his high-profile railway lines, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was engineer to a number of minor and branch lines including those from Slough to Windsor, Didcot to Oxford and from there via the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway - the OWW which was generally known as the 'Old Worse & Worse' - across to Moreton, Evesham, Pershore and up through Worcester to Wolverhampton, the Gloucester to Cheltenham line, as well as the railways to Ross and Hereford, plus additional lines in Wiltshire, Somerset and South Wales.

What's inside this guide 'Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - The Minor Lines'

'Seldom has the gigantic intellect of man been employed upon a work of greater utility.' Punch, in praise of Bradshaw's guide which was published in 1863, very shortly after these lines had been completed

It gives the reader a unique insight into the world of the Victorian railways and goes beyond the engineering aspects to record the sights to be seen in the towns and cities encountered along the way.

Brunel expert John Christopher presents Bradshaw's original text accompanied by contemporary images and many new colour photographs of the same journey today.

This is the third volume in this Bradshaw’s Guides series. Also available here are 'Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - Paddington to Penzance' and 'Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - Swindon to South Wales'.

'Bradshaw's Guide: Brunel’s Railways - The Minor Lines' in detail

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2014
ISBN: 9781445621784
Format: Softback, 96 pages
Size: 234 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - Paddington to Penzance (Signed copy)

Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Bradshaw were close contemporaries. One became Britain's most celebrated engineer, driving his iron rails across the country from London to the tip of Cornwall, while the other brought the experience of rail travel to the masses through his timetables and guide books.

What's inside this guide 'Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - Paddington to Penzance'

Although the Great Western Railway (GWR) had opened in 1840, the through journey to Penzance had only become possible with the completion of the Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar at Saltash in 1859, the year of Brunel's death.

Bradshaw's guide was published very shortly after the line opened and it gives the reader a unique insight into the new world of the Victorian railways and goes beyond the engineering aspects of the line to record the sights to be seen in the towns and cities encountered along the route.

Brunel expert John Christopher presents Bradshaw's original account as a continuous journey from Paddington to Penzance. The text is accompanied by contemporary images as well as many new colour photographs of the same journey today.

This is the first volume in this Bradshaw’s Guides series. Also available here 'Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - Swindon to South Wales' and 'Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - The Minor Lines'.

'Bradshaw's Guide: Brunel’s Railways - Paddington to Penzance' in detail

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2013
ISBN: 9781445621593
Format: Softback, 96 pages
Size: 234 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - Swindon to South Wales (Signed copy)

Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Bradshaw were close contemporaries. One became Britain's most celebrated engineer, driving his iron rails across the country, while the other brought the experience of rail travel to the masses through his timetables and guide books.

What's inside this Bradshaw Guide 'Brunel’s Railways - Swindon to South Wales'

Although the Great Western Railway (GWR) mainline from London to Bristol had opened in 1840, the through journey across southern Wales to Neyland in Pembrokeshire - where Brunel planned to connect with his transatlantic steamships - only become possible after the opening of the Chepstow Bridge over the Wye and the completion of the line just a few years before Brunel's death.

Bradshaw's Guides were invaluable in their time and they provide the modern-day reader with a fascinating insight into the nineteenth century rail traveller's experience.

Brought to the public’s attention by Michael Portillo’s TV programmes, Bradshaw's guides provide a unique insight into the new world of the Victorian railways and goes beyond the engineering aspects of the line to record the sights in the towns and cities encountered along the route.

Acknowledged Brunel expert John Christopher presents Bradshaw's original account as a journey from Swindon up to Gloucester and across South Wales. Branch lines to Cheltenham, Ross, Hereford, Neath and Merthyr are included. The text is annotated and accompanied by contemporary images as well as many new colour photographs of the same journey today.

This is the second volume in this series. Also available here is 'Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - Paddington to Penzance' and 'Bradshaw on Brunel’s Railways - The Minor Lines'.

'Brunel’s Railways - Swindon to South Wales' in detail

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2014
ISBN: 9781445621777
Format: Softback, 96 pages
Size: 234 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

The Bradshaw’s Guide 7: The Railways of Wales - Signed copy

The popular Bradshaw’s Guide of 1863 offers a unique insight into the world of the nineteenth-century railway traveller. Built primarily to serve industry and the mail packets to Ireland, the railways of Wales would go on to open up the Principality to tourism for the first time. They also brought communities closer together and many journeys that once took days to complete could now be undertaken in hours. 

What's inside this Bradshaw Guide 'The Railways of Wales'

This illustrated guide records the sights to be seen in the towns and cities encountered along the various routes. John Christopher and Campbell McCutcheon take us on Brunel’s broad gauge lines in South Wales, before joining the central and northern railways, using contemporary Victorian and Edwardian photographs and postcards to illustrate the scenes that readers of Bradshaw’s Guide would have experienced.

This volume covers the South Wales Railway, the GWR, the Cambrian lines and the Chester & Holyhead Railway as well as many branch lines.

'Bradshaw’s Guide 7: The Railways of Wales' in detail

Authors: John Christopher (signed) and Campbell McCutcheon
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2015
ISBN: 9781445638515
Format: Softback, 96 pages
Size: 234 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Through Time - Signed

IKB was Britain's greatest engineer. He was the man who built everything on a huge scale including Britain's biggest ship, some spectacular bridges, a tunnel under the Thames and the magnificent Great Western Railway from London to Bristol.

What's inside 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel Through Time'

Brunel left an unsurpassed legacy of industrial architecture and design, from the vaulted roof of Paddington station to the iron-hulled SS Great Britain, from the Clifton Suspension Bridge to the Tamar Bridge (which bears his name on its approaches).

His life was one of superlatives; bigger, wider, taller and faster. As the historian Dan Cruikshank put it, Brunel was quite simply 'a one-man Industrial Revolution'.

Here, John Christopher tells the story of the man and his tunnels, bridges, railways, ships and buildings, with many new illustrations accompanying the old, showing the changes time has made to Brunel's greatest legacy - the things he designed and built that we still take for granted and use every day, over a century and a half since his death.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Through Time - the details

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2010
ISBN: 9781848689633
Format: Softback 96 pages
Size: 235 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection