For anyone who has ever been drawn by the romance of railways, The Great Book of Trains provides a lavishly illustrated and technically detailed description of more than 300 of the world's most famous locomotives. Tracing the development of rail power around the world, it begins its journey in that evocative age when steam was king. Fully described and laden with fascinating facts and anecdotes, the entries list a host of passenger steam locomotives that powered the world's first great railway boom. This comprehensive guide begins with the early pioneers of the 1830s, such as Stephenson's Northumbrian and Jarvis' Brother Jonathan, and carries on to include the twentieth-century giants, such as Union Pacific's enormous Challenger class locomotive, which raced its 40 tons across the wide expanse of the United States during the 1940s.