Alon Siton – författare

Long before Brexit, the Common Market and even the Commonwealth, Britannia truly did rule the waves. Perhaps more unsung is the fact that she also ruled the rails over much of the world, for Britain’s engineers effectively exported the Industrial Revolution and specifically the railway around the globe. This was especially true in that forerunner of the Commonwealth, the British Empire. In those parts of the world that were coloured pink on schoolroom maps, the rapidly expanding colonial railways were supplied by British companies like Neilson Reid, Bagnall, Kitson, Cravens and Cammell-Laird.This book tells the story of the expansion of the railways of the British Empire in Africa, featuring stunning photographs, contemporary maps, posters, travel brochures and extracts from other interesting documents.

Historical Railways around the World is a carefully curated selection of vintage railway photos from all around the world. It was composed in the spirit of the time-honoured phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words, and transports the reader back to the golden age of steam locomotives in a stunning array of exotic and obscure locales.Using these stunning photographs, Alon Siton revisits a period in history where the railways stood at the centre of global events, and celebrates the power and variety of the world’s locomotives.

The North Western Railway of India (NWR) was one of British India’s largest railway systems. Created out of the merger of several local Indian lines, the NWR was gradually extended and charged with the double duty of running civilian passenger trains between Delhi and the rest of the country, as well as implementing Britain’s own strategic plans beyond the border – from the North Western Frontier to distant Afghanistan. In 1947, following the end of the British rule in the Indian subcontinent, the NWR was divided between the newly formed independent states of India and Pakistan.Using rare and previously unpublished photos, maps and illustrations, this book tells the story of one of the most fascinating railways of the Indian Empire.

The North British Locomotive Company came into existence in 1903 as an amalgamation of three established Glasgow locomotive manufacturers: Dübs & Co., Sharp Stewart and Neilson Reid. Each of these companies enjoyed an excellent reputation for its products both at home and abroad.The amalgamation that formed NBL created the largest locomotive builder in the British Empire, building on the worldwide renown of its predecessors and exporting its products all over the world to places as diverse as Palestine, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. Its locomotive output was as varied as its clients, with steam locomotives of every gauge, and ranging from tiny tank engines to massive Beyer-Garratts.Moving with the times, North British entered the market for diesel and electric traction after the Second World War and its lack of success in this field ultimately brought the company to its knees.Here, Colin Alexander and Alon Siton present a lavishly illustrated exploration of one of Britain’s greatest locomotive companies, including the products of its three Victorian constituents and official works photographs, images of locos in service and some of the many preserved Dübs, Sharp Stewart, Neilson and North British locomotives on heritage railways and in museums around the world.

Elegance in Engineering showcases an interesting and diverse collection of British-built steam locomotives from all builders, for railways at home and abroad. These examples of British engineering at its best tell the story of the development of the archetypal British steam locomotive from the 1830s to the end of steam locomotive manufacture.Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder and any selection of locomotives is bound to be subjective, but nobody can deny that by comparison, locomotives built overseas tended to be angular and austere. Maintenance staff would argue that having many of their fittings on the outside made them easier to look after but the purist would contest that it did not make them easier on the eye.

Long before Brexit, the Common Market and even the Commonwealth, Britannia truly did rule the waves. Perhaps more unsung is the fact that she also ruled the rails over much of the world, for Britain’s engineers effectively exported the Industrial Revolution and specifically the railway around the globe. This was especially true of the forerunner of the Commonwealth, the British Empire. In those parts of the world that were coloured pink on schoolroom maps, the rapidly expanding colonial railways were supplied by British companies like Neilson Reid, Bagnall, Kitson, Cravens and Cammell-Laird.This book tells the story of the expansion of the railways of the British Empire in the Indian subcontinent, featuring stunning photographs, contemporary maps, posters, travel brochures and extracts from other interesting documents.