History Of Brush Traction Locomotives: An Historic Overview

Looking back at a rich and varied history that spans over 160 years, this book takes the reader on a journey exploring the locomotives built by Brush Traction and its numerous incarnations since 1865. In the very early days a diverse selection of vehicles were turned out including carriages, wagons, tramcars and even automobiles before production was concentrated on locomotives. We look closely at the important developments and locos produced, starting out from a small back street concern and going on to become a huge world famous manufacturing company. The UK is fortunate to still witness some of the iconic locomotives built by Brush, while further afield their engines continue working hard in many foreign lands including Hong Kong and New Zealand. A very large number of images were sifted through before the final selection of over 200 black and white and colour photos were chosen to capture the amazing variety of motive power from over the decades. In separate chapters, steam, diesel and electrics feature along with detailed introductions and captions that give the reader a real insight into the long list of locos that passed through the gates of the Loughborough Works. Early steam engines, one-off prototypes, famous diesel classes and state of the art electrics all come together to make up the amazing history of Brush Traction locomotives. AUTHOR: John Matthews was born in 1951 at Preston Royal Infirmary which interestingly looked over the Preston to Longridge railway line, possibly an omen of things to come. Brought up in a terraced house in Penwortham, the River Ribble ran by the bottom of the street which in those early days was devoid of a single car and the terms 'Global Warming' and 'Climate Change' had not yet been discovered by the weather scientists of the time. Growing up surrounded by railways, the Preston to Southport line was passed under on the walk to school, and the clanking of coal wagons could clearly be heard in Ribble Sidings as a game of football was being played in a nearby field. Not surprisingly it wasn't long before trainspotting became a huge interest and armed with an 'Ian Allan ABC Combined Volume' from Summer 1961 many glorious hours were spent watching the greatest free show on earth. On leaving school with two 'O' levels, John went to work in a bank followed by a time as a Ribble bus driver. Today he enjoys watching cricket and art plus spending time with his two grandsons William and Charles. 100 colour, 150 b/w illustrations