Books by Colin Alexander

Long before Brexit, the Common Market and even the Commonwealth, Britannia truly did rule the waves. Perhaps more unsung is the fact that she also ruled the rails over much of the world, for Britain's engineers effectively exported the Industrial Revolution and specifically the railway around the globe. This was especially true in that forerunner of the Commonwealth, the British Empire. In those parts of the world that were coloured pink on schoolroom maps, the rapidly expanding colonial railways were supplied by British companies like Neilson Reid, Bagnall, Kitson, Cravens and Cammell-Laird. This book tells the story of the expansion of the railways of the British Empire in Australasia and other areas beyond the Indian subcontinent and Africa, featuring stunning photographs, contemporary maps, posters, travel brochures and extracts from other interesting documents.

Between the two world wars there was a golden era of industrial design when the benefits of streamlining were realised, allowing for reduced wind resistance, faster transportation and a more efficient economy. The Art Deco-influenced style was also a huge public relations exercise in the glamour-obsessed 1920s and 1930s. Its most obvious manifestations were on the railways, with beautiful streamlined locomotives in daring colour schemes on prestigious named expresses, especially in Europe and North America. They included the Fliegender Hamburger diesel train in Germany, the American Mercury trains and of course Sir Nigel Gresley's A4 Class, on which the streamlined casing and internal streamlining allowed Mallard to break the world speed record. The idea of streamlining made even more sense in the air, where the great airships were crossing the Atlantic, and aircraft like the Douglas DC3 cut through the air more easily than anything that came before. Meanwhile, on the world's roads, buses and cars lost their perpendicular looks and marques like Cord and Bugatti led the way with increasingly aerodynamic, wind-tunnel-tested profiles. Designers like Raymond Loewy, as well as designing streamlined locomotives, began to apply the same style to products for which wind resistance was irrelevant, such as buildings, refrigerators and even pencil sharpeners. This book tells the story of the streamline era - its designers, its successes and failures, its inspiration and its legacy.

August 2020 marked the fortieth anniversary of the opening of the first section of the Tyne & Wear Metro between Haymarket and Tynemouth. It is an exciting time for the system, with a new fleet of trains about to be ordered, and extensions to the network being proposed. This book explores the decline of the BR suburban lines that were replaced, the phased opening of the new system from 1980, and subsequent extensions. It also looks at those being considered in the future. The successful integration of the Metro with bus and ferry services is considered, alongside the inclusivity of the railway's design, which allows disabled people unprecedented access to public transport. It also illustrates Metro's unique combination of brand-new tunnels, spectacular viaducts and underground stations, taking in the magnificent Victorian infrastructure of the former North Eastern Railway and Blyth & Tyne Railway.

Colin Alexander and Alon Siton present a lavishly illustrated exploration of one of Britain's greatest locomotive companies.

A pictorial tour of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

A look at the iconic and important pilot scheme diesel locos.