Railways at War: Cumbria and its Adjacent Counties - Ambulance Trains and “Jellicoe Specials” Operated During the Great War

A special edition of Cumbrian Railways, this tells the history and story of the Ambulance Trains and the 'Jellicoe Specials' (coal trains) operated during the Great War. Whilst many books mention these operations, because they were 'State secrets', there is very little detail.

Whilst it concentrates on what happened in Cumberland, Westmoreland  and Lancashire, the long distance nature of these trains, means the coverage goes much further afield, to the South Coast, South Wales and many Scottish destinations.

The text is comprehensive as far as possible, and tells a quite extraordinary story of how the railways coped with an ever increasing number of ambulance trains, but an almost unimaginably number of coal trains from South Wales, generally northwards, to keep the 'Grand Fleet' at sea, or ready for it. Two incredible stories which graphically illustrate why Britain's railways were run down by the end of the war.

Again because of the need to keep details of their operations restricted,  photographs of these trains was very restricted, there being only two photographs of ambulance trains in service here, and two of 'Jellicoe Specials' en-route as a result, although there are many other photographs linked to the subjects.

64 pages. Around 70 illustrations, including maps, track layouts etc.. Paperback

Highly recommended!