This is book 3 in the series. Peter and his Grandpa have built a miniature steam railway across their farm, linking their houses. It is a scenic journey, crossing fields, woodland and running beside a river. In this third book they extend the line to Yockletts Village. They tell Grandma the extension is for her to go shopping, but they have a secret plan to run trains at high speed. Along the way the two heroes discover a long forgotten traction engine which they put back to work and Grandma has a hair-raising escape. To celebrate the opening of the new line, The Great Train Race is organised with lots of visiting locomotives. Who will win? As in the previous books, the technical information and diagrams are at the end of relevant chapters, explaining how railways and engines work. Some of the drawings are familiar from the first two books, but the science and engineering explored is different. If the reader has enjoyed the technical information in books one and two, they will find this book takes them further.

 

This is book 3 in Peter's Railway .

There are 96 pages in this book. This book was published 2009 by Christopher Vine .

Christopher Vine has always been fascinated by all things mechanical and electrical. In fact his first words were "Turn it on" and "Turn it off" which just about covered everything of interest. He started making things early on with his first working go-kart at the age of seven. It had a car battery and starter motor as motive power and a morse key as the switch. The next dangerous device was a motor bike made from a tiny child's bicycle and a lawn mower engine. The drive involved a large and vital pulley from his mother's washing machine. So started a lifetime of making things. The only thing he wanted for his eleventh birthday was a lathe. An old one was found for GBP 20 which although worn out did, produce a small stationary steam engine, a Stuart Turner No. 10. Whilst he is a Chartered Engineer, his great interest has always been railways, steam engines and, in particular, model engineering.

This book has the following chapters: Chapter 1 Peter's Railway; Chapter 2 Grandma's Close Shave; Chapter 3 Hit the Brakes!; Chapter 4 Surveying the Yockletts Extension; Chapter 5 The Forgotten Engine; Chapter 6 An Inspector Calls; Chapter 7 Making Tracks; Chapter 8 Building the Yockletts Line; Chapter 9 Full Steam Ahead to Yockletts; Chapter 10 The Great Railway Race; Technical Contents; Brakes - Simple; Automatic Brakes and the Fail-Safe Principle; Traction Engine; Gears and Gear Ratios; Turning Force and Torque; The Boiler - steam and pressure gauge; Drive Belts and Saw Bench; Automatic Speed Governor; Banking, Tilting and Super-Elevation; Piston and Cylinder - Eccentrics; Saving Coal - How to use steam more efficiently.