Railways: A comprehensive encyclopedia of railways in Britain. Each entry contains a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is hypertexted to other relevant pages in the encyclopedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hypertexted so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper, organization, etc., that produced the material. So far there are sections on Railway & Bridge Engineers, Railway Entrepreneurs, Locomotives, Railway Companies, Liverpool & Manchester Railway, Railway Art, Railway Towns and Cities, Historical Developments, Railway Experiences and Railway Stations.

The Rainhill Trials: In October 1829 the directors of the soon to be completed Liverpool and Manchester Railway held a competition to find the most appropriate locomotive to use on their railway. The Rainhill Trials, as the competition came to be known, were held over a number of weeks, grandstands were erected and many people came to watch the events. The correspondent from the weekly Mechanics Magazine, attended these trials and sent detailed verbatim reports of the events. This website contains those articles and illustrations of the five locomotives involved: Novelty, Rocket, Sans Pareil, Cycloped and Perseverance.

Development of Railways: In this activity, produced by Learnall, students access the Spartacus Historical Encyclopedia in order to research the development of the railways. A class is put into groups, and each group researches a particular event, machine or personality, then summarises their findings and reports back to the class in the form of a word-processed document. National Curriculum key objectives are specifically targeted along with language for learning. Students and teachers wishing to make use of the Learnall site have to first get themselves registered on the site and thereby gain a username and password.

UK Heritage Railways: The primary purpose of this website is to provide a guide to the entire heritage railway scene in the UK, including details of special events and operating days for all operating steam railways. However, there is also a comprehensive glossary (over 900 entries) of railway terms, names and abbreviations; pages of diagrams and explanations of the components of steam locomotives and their controls; and a Websites Database with links to over 400 railway related websites (including a category for historical material).

Canals & Waterways: Roots & Routes: Produced by Peter Hardcastle this website is a series of pages covering many of Britain's Inland Waterways. Each waterway is divided into two sections; (a) Roots: A chronological history of the waterway in question, tracing its roots from its initial promotion through to the present day; (b) Routes: A detailed description of the waterway's route, including details of interesting features along the way, descriptions on how to reach these features, street names, parking places and (some times) OS Grid References. Both man-made canals and commercial river navigations (including the Norfolk Broads) are covered on the web site. Over 100 waterways have been covered to date and, eventually, every commercial waterway in the UK, whether navigable, derelict or under restoration will be described. In fact, several canal ventures which never saw a boat or even a drop of water are also included. The author of the site as walked most of the canals that he describes, research for the history sections has been collected from many books, magazine articles, the Internet and people who have had personal involvement with canals - for instance, working boatmen, lock keepers or as part of the restoration movement.

The Titanic: History on the Net has a new section on the Titanic. This popular topic fits into the national curriculum as part of the modern world and will be written as a resource to answer the question 'Why was the sinking of the Titanic such a memorable event.' The section currently includes an interactive page which looks at the Layout of the Ship and includes a worksheet, a bibliography and a further information section.

London and North Western Railway Society: The LNWRS was formed thirty years ago. The society aims to collect and disseminate information about the London and North Western Railway, its constituents and its successors. The LNWRS interested in the infrastructure of the railway, the men and women who made it work, as well as the engines and rolling stock which it built and used. The most useful part of the website is an excellent glossary of the railway industry.

Aviation Pioneers: A collection of biographies of those people who played an important role in the history of aviation. This includes Clément Ader, William Bland, Frederick Brearey, Jean-Marie Le Bris, George Cayley, Octave Chanute, Glenn Curtiss, Henri Giffard, Lawrence Hargrave, William Henson, Otto Lilienthal, Etienne-Jules Marey, Louis Mouillard, Thomas Moy, Alexander Mozhaisky, Alphonse Pénaud, Horatio Phillips, Percy Pilcher, Charles Renard, John Stringfellow, Emmanuel Swedenborg, Victor Tatin, Felix du Temple de la Croix, Nikolaj Teleshov, Thomas Walker, Francis Wenham, John Wise and Wilbur & Orville Wright.

Flying Machines: Before the Wright Brothers achieved the first successful heavier-than-air controlled flight on December 17, 1903, hundreds of women and men attempted to fly, in airships, gliders and aeroplanes, and many did go aloft in gas and hot-air balloons. This website documents a number of those pre-Wright attempts at heavier-than-air flight, as well as significant events and thoughts which contributed to the ultimate success of powered, heavier-than-air human flight.

Domination of the Air: John Mackenzie Bacon died in 1904. His classic book, Domination of the Air is now available online. Topics covered include: Invention of the Balloon, First Balloon Ascent in England, Famous Early Voyagers, Charles Green and the Nassau Balloon, John Wise: the American Aeronaut, Commencement of a New Era, Henry Coxwell and His Contemporaries, Highest Ascent on Record, Scientific Voyages of Glaisher and Coxwell, Famous French Aeronauts, Adventure and Enterprise, The Balloon in the Siege of Paris, The Tragedy of the Zenith, The Coming of the Flying Machine, New Departures in Aerostation, The Modern Airship and The Possibilities of Balloons in Warfare.

Mike's Railway History: This excellent website will take you back in time, to an age where only the rich could own a car or fly. The train was the only way many people could travel. Here you will find facts and stories about railways, trains, locomotives and the railway engineers, who built and ran them. All of the items on these pages date from before 1936. Some pages on this site are very large, up to 60k text, and graphics up to 400k. Please bear this in mind as pages are downloading - they really are worth waiting for.

London Transport Museum tells the fascinating story of London's transport history since the early 1800s. Its permanent displays and special exhibitions explore the impact of public transport on the growth of the capital and the lives of Londoners over the past 200 years. Horse and electric trams, motor buses, Underground trains, Tube simulators, guided tours, actors and our Learning Centre bring the story of the capital's public transport to life. Sun a-shine, Rain a-fall is the first in a developing series of online resources that will tell the stories of the people behind London's public transport services over the last two centuries.

Transport Archive: This website tells the story of Britain's transport system since the eighteenth century. Using several thousand images, it shows how waterways, railways and aviation have changed our lives. Recent material includes: Bridging the Years (describes the impact of the North West's waterways upon local, national and global society), The Last Main Line (examines the Great Central Railway's 'London Extension' from construction to closure and rebirth) and Aviation Heritage (illustrates the huge contribution the people of South Gloucestershire have made to aviation). The site also includes a timeline and maps show how transport networks evolve and grow.

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