The Architecture and Infrastructure of Britain's Railways: West Midlands, Wales and the West

The range and variety of British railway stations is truly astonishing: from the tiny wayside halt made of corrugated iron to the magnificent stone-built city center terminus. No less remarkable in their variety are the buildings devoted to the transport of goods, and indeed for most years of their existence this traffic was by far the most important to the railway companies. Subjects also covered are signal boxes and signaling, locomotive depots, bridges and viaducts, and much else besides; in fact, just about every aspect of the British railway scene. This book, focusing on the West Midlands, Wales, and the South West, covers principally the areas of the London & North Western, the Great Western, the London & South Western railways, and the various Welsh railway companies. Illustrated throughout with the author’s original color photographs, many of which are now historic, this book is sure to appeal as much to the general reader as to the railway modeler.

Patrick Bennett pursued a varied career, ending up as a lecturer in further education. Retirement to France in 2007 brought the chance to also study the railways of his adopted country, resulting in a number of books on the history of French railways.