(first posted 2/3/2018) Glasgow is a great city, and perhaps one of the most individually distinctive in Britain, with a historic importance that is obvious to any visitor. […]
(first posted 10/25/2017) The Great Western Railway always knew it was better than other British railway companies, and was tremendously proud of its steam locomotives, so expecting […]
(first posted 3/17/2017) When the RAF needed to go supersonic to meet the threat of Soviet long distance bombers, it did it in style. The English Electric Lightning looked like […]
(first posted 8/3/2017) After the disappointment of the pioneering Comet, how was the British aircraft industry to compete with the Boeing 707 and McDonnell Douglas DC-8? The […]
(first posted 7/8/2017) Don’t let people tell you British Rail was a slow, stodgy and conservative organisation, unable to adapt and change with the times. Well, not all […]
Originally posted 9 June 2023 Over 250 years ago, hauling coal in northeast England was the raison d’être of the first railways, and Britain’s railways have made a decent living […]
(first posted 5/8/2017) After WW2, Britain’s railways were forced together, and like all such combinations took their time to find their new style and identity. So it was 1951 before […]
(first posted 4/17/2017) When asked about early railway electrification in Britain, most will think of the Southern Railway’s commuter network fanning out from London. It seems that the […]
(first posted 2/2/2017) The Pennsylvania Railroad was a great railroad, with a high opinion of itself; nowhere was that more evident than in what was (and is) perhaps the most […]
(first posted 1/3/2017) Driving a steam locomotive may look glamourous, but the environment isn’t. You’re either too hot or too cold, depending on the season; you get choked by […]
(first posted 12/4/2016) Few companies cherished tradition like the Great Western Railway (GWR). Look at its premier express engine, the King class. Brass and copper decoration, ornate […]
(first posted 9/25/2016) The first jetliner in the world wasn’t a Boeing or a McDonnell Douglas. It was a government sponsored project, conceived in war to serve a post-war Empire. […]
(first posted 8/21/2016) Late nineteenth century Switzerland had an opportunity, but also a problem. Some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe in the great Alpine mountain ranges were […]
(first posted 6/16/2016) CC has already seen Flying Scotsman and Mallard of the London and North Eastern Railway, perhaps the most graceful and stylish steam locomotives in British history. But […]
(first posted 5/8/2016) We all know the significance of the Hurricane, Spitfire and Lancaster. All these great aircraft were powered by the immortal Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; brilliantly engineered and superbly […]