Whitby, Pickering & Scarborough Railway

The Whitby to Pickering railway opened in 1836 with George Stephenson as its engineer. At first, carriages were horse drawn before being replaced by 'travelling engines' when the line was extended to Scarborough and York. Gordon Bell brings together documents published at the time with drawings for the railway commissioned from Stephenson's assistant surveyor, George Haydock Dodgson. Hugh Dodgson, the artist's direct descendant, tells the story of these original illustrations. This book follows the fortunes of the line and traces the people and personalities that made it happen, including Robert Stephenson and George Hudson, 'The Railway King'. Extracts from guides published at the time recreate the voices of the early Victorians who knew the railway or travelled on it. Also featured are woodcuts and engravings by artists who witnessed the building of the first railways and recorded them before the advent of photography. Gordon Bell began his career as a teacher of art in primary and secondary schools. His interests in education took him into research and development and a variety of posts in universities and colleges. He has published extensively on the arts and education and was appointed Professor of Education in 1988. A resident of Thornton-le-Dale, he comines his expertise in the visual arts with a delight in the railway that still carries passengers from Pickering over the moors, in many ways unchanged from the journeys described in this book by the line's first passengers.