QUEST FOR SPEED EB

Derek Hayes

• Publisher: Collins
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9780008704148
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: Technology & Engineering

A visual history of high-speed trains

Hop aboard this fascinating journey through the early days of railway trains to the modern day superfast Maglevs which can reach speeds of 600km/h. Exquisitely illustrated with hundreds of photos, both archival and modern, the book is a visual feast for anyone even remotely interested in railways.

This is a journey through time and throughout the world, investigating trains that have been considered high-speed in their day. Focused at first in Britain, the birthplace of the railway, the book covers developments in the 19th and 20th centuries across Europe, including the birth of the French TGV, which is credited with kickstarting the modern rise of the high-speed train in the West, inspired itself by the early Japanese Shinkansen—the Bullet Train—in 1964.

From steam to diesel to gas turbines to electric and from steel-wheeled to magnetic levitation (maglev), it is all covered in this book, including significant, recent innovations such as driverless trains and maglev on conventional track, which may well be the way of the future.

With hundreds of colour photographs, many taken specially for this book, and readable text aimed at all those interested in history and the development of technology—not just railway enthusiasts—Quest for Speed will entertain, fascinate and delight.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Note to Readers
• Contents
• Going Faster by Rail
• Not Much Faster Than a Horse
• Going Like a Rocket
• Speeding Up
• Speeding Life in the City
• Racing to the North
• Faster in America?
• Electric Speed
• Speeding the Ocean Mails
• Facilitating Speed
• The Cheltenham Flyer
• The Image of Speed
• Streamlining
• North American Streamliners
• Steam, Speed, and Power
• Germany’s 1930s Speed Records
• More 1930s Speedsters
• The British Speed Duel
• The World Steam Speed Record
• Measuring Speed
• Postscript – The Great Gathering
• Speed Revival – France
• High-Speed Competition
• Speed Revival – Germany
• Speed Revival – Italy
• Speed Revival – Spain
• The Trans Europ Express
• Speed Revival – UK
• Speed Revival – More European
• Speed Revival – North America
• Japanese Bullets
• The Advanced Passenger Train
• The UK’s High-Speed Train
• British Electrification of Speed
• Train à Grande Vitesse
• German InterCity
• The World’s Fastest Locomotive
• High-Speed Italy
• Europe’s Longest High-Speed Network – Spain
• Eurostar and the Channel Tunnel
• British High Speed
• More European High Speed
• The Chinese Rail Revolution
• A World of High Speed
• The Magic of Maglev
• Speed in the Preservation Era
• Image Credits
• Further Reading
• Index
• Acknowledgements
• Other Books By
• About the Publisher