This is book 1 of a fascinating and educational series. "Peter's Railway" is the story of a young boy who lives with his family in a cottage at the edge of his Grandpa's farm. It is a long way by road between their two houses and Grandpa does not own a car. So to make visiting each other easier, they build a miniature steam railway. They have some adventures along the way and use all sorts of machines and tools to help them in their great building project. In quiet moments, Grandpa tells Peter some incredible tales from the old times on the railways. The story ends with the grand opening ceremony with the first steam train running the full length of the scenic railway, through the fields, woods and past the river. The book combines the story with lots of simply explained technical information and diagrams. They are on pages at the ends of relevant chapters to avoid getting in the way of the story.

 

 

This book is part of a book series called Peter's Railway .

There are 96 pages in this book. This book was published in 2008 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 Before the Railway; Chapter 2 A Tricky Problem; Chapter 3 The Railway Exhibition; Chapter 4 Grandpa's Cunning Plan; Chapter 5 Surveying the Route; Chapter 6 Making the Track; Chapter 7 Constructing the Railway; Chapter 8 Finishing the Line; Chapter 9 Getting Ready to Open the Line; Chapter 10 Raising Steam; Chapter 11 The Grand Opening Ceremony; Technical Contents; Cuttings and Embankments; Spirit Level; Track Construction and Expansion Joints; Flanges - to keep the train on the track; Couplings and Buffers; The Boiler - How the locomotive makes its steam; Pistons and Cylinders - How the steam turns the wheels and drives the locomotive.