When Britannia Ruled the RAILS: Book Reveals How Britain Exported the Railway Around the World

When Britannia ruled the RAILS: A fascinating book reveals how Britain exported the railway around the world, shipping locomotives and rolling stock everywhere from Canada to Australia. British Empire Railways documents how expanding colonial railways were provided by British companies. turntables, cranes and even bridges around the world They were doing this "long before the Portuguese built the first railways in Angola and the French in Algeria"

By

Posted: 08:29 BST, 15 Aug 2022 | Update: 09:17 BST, 15 Aug 2022

Advertisement

That Britannia ruled the waves is common knowledge - but she also ruled the rails.

So say Colin Alexander and Alon Siton, authors of the new book Railways of the British Empire: Australasia and Beyond (Amberley Publishing).

This fascinating tome, using vintage photographs, tells the story of the expansion of the British Empire's railways, documenting how British engineers " exported the railway all over the world".

< p class="mol-para-with-font">The authors write: "In the parts of the world colored pink on school maps, railways rapidly expanding colonial ironworks were supplied by British companies. Long before the Portuguese built the first railways in Angola, the Belgians in the Congo and the French in Algeria, British companies exported locomotives, rolling stock, signaling equipment, turntables, cranes and even bridges around the world.

'Where Britain was once the workshop of the world, the trains built here now are based on Japanese technology and we rely on driving force imported from North America and continental Europe. It's a sad situation for the country that so proudly invented the railway and supplied the world.'

Scroll down for a trip back in time to the glory years of British railway manufacturing…