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The London & Portsmouth Direct Atmospheric Railway: 'A Mere Puff of Wind' by Arthur R. Nicholls (Paperback, 2013)

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A MERE PUFF OF WIND is the story of the abortive attempt to construct The London & Portsmouth Direct Atmospheric Railway during the Railway Mania of the 1840s. These were times when many schemes for railways were proposed . Portsmouth was an important naval and maritime town and residents were incensed at being ignored by the railway that had opened to Southampton across the harbour. Continental invasion by Napoleon was a constant fear and the railway was seen as an efficient means of moving large numbers of troops at speed. There was a call for direct railway communication with London. The story is one of hopes raised and then dashed. It indicates the problems encountered in raising capital, support and legislation, suffering from the power and influence of surrounding railways. This was the age of invention and many strange systems of powering trains were devised. The atmospheric system had been installed on the Croydon railway with initial success and Brunel used it with disastrous financial results in Devon. Like many other systems, it had vital faults and eventually failed. Telling the complete story for the first time, it provides an intriguing account of one of the forgotten early railway schemes.

Product Identifiers

PublisherFonthill Media
ISBN-139781781552445
eBay Product ID (ePID)156661022

Product Key Features

Book TitleThe London & Portsmouth Direct Atmospheric Railway: 'a Mere Puff of Wind'
AuthorArthur R. Nicholls
FormatPaperback
LanguageEnglish
TopicRailway
Publication Year2013
Number of Pages256 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height234mm
Item Width156mm
Item Weight560g

Additional Product Features

Title_AuthorArthur R. Nicholls
Country/Region of ManufactureUnited Kingdom