Lost Railways of the World

New Hardback Illustrated

Postscript summary

Nigel Welbourn draws on decades of travel and research to survey disused lines, from a seven-mile seas bridge over the Florida Keys to the Khyber Pass, accompanying examples of engineering extremes and unusual incidents such as lava damage and submersion with maps and colour illustrations.

Product information

Publisher: Pen & Sword
Year: 2022
Format: Hardback
Pages: 256pp
Illustrated: Yes
Dimensions: 288x222mm
Condition: New
Weight: 1.3kg
ISBN: 9781399096171
Product code: 547471

Full publisher description

Many readers will be familiar with Nigel Welbourn's long running series of books, covering lost railways in Britain and Ireland. This new book Lost Railways of the World is the latest by this author on the subject of disused railways.

The material for this volume has been collected and researched over a period of almost fifty years of world travel by the author. Informative text records the fortunes of the world's lost railways and every country with significant disused railways is included. Lost railways are a unifying theme, being found throughout the world, from the hottest African desert to the coldest steppes of Russia.

The book has a surprisingly British flavour as historically many railways throughout the world used British equipment and operating practices. On his first trip in the 1970s the author discovered British signalling equipment in Europe. In 2020 he discovered the same firms' equipment in South America.

The world's top ten lost lines are listed, from the seven-mile-long sea bridge on a line that ran through the Florida Keys, to the rugged mountain splendour of the Khyber Pass Railway. Some of the oldest, largest, longest, most northerly, southerly, expensive, crookedest, steepest, highest, lowest and most notorious lost railways are included.

Quirky and other unique tales from lost railways are included, such as the disappearing phantom bridge, a line destroyed by molten lava, to one that sank under the sea, another that conveyed giant turtles, to a memorial to a brave railway elephant. The author also visited remote areas of Argentina and provides more information on the mysterious disappearance of the ex-Lynton & Barnstaple Railway locomotive Lew.

A large number of the 300 colour illustrations have not been published before, maps and stories from around the world will delight not only the railway enthusiast, but appeal to a wider cadre of readers with an interest in nostalgia, history, geography and travel. To some the book will be an informative source of information, to others it is written in a way that highlights the most amazing lost railways in the world, but either way it is a fascinating and unique book.

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