The SLS was founded in 1909 for the study of rail transport and locomotives. The Institute regularly holds joint events with the SLS and has developed several joint publications on industrial history topics.
The Railway Revolution
Les Turnbull NEIMME
17th October 2019
North East Futures UTC, Stephenson Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3AS
A joint lecture between the Institute and the Stephenson Locomotive Society
Register for a ticket here.
Timings: 17:30 Tea and coffee, 18:00 Lecture begins
This lecture is a joint event held in conjunction with the Stephenson Locomotive Society to mark the launch Les Turnbull’s new book ‘The Railway Revolution’ which is published by NEIMME in conjunction with the Tyneside Centre of the Stephenson Locomotive Society. It has been dedicated to a former Fellow of the Mining Institute, Alan Clothier, who was a professional railwayman for all of his distinguished engineering career, as a tribute for the work his did for the Institute and for his promotion of railway studies.
The archives of NEIMME house the most important collection of original material on the history of early railways and Les Turnbull, who has served as a volunteer at the library of the Mining Institute for more than two decades, is acknowledged as an authority on the collection and the history of the Great Northern Coalfield. Drawing primarily upon this source and the archives of the Duke of Northumberland at Alnwick, he has made a study of the transfer from road to rail transport in the seventeenth century which was the first railway revolution. In this lecture, based upon the opening chapter of his latest book, Les argues for a new interpretation of railway history and demonstrates that the first railway revolution occurred many years before the George and Robert Stephenson came on the scene. What is usually regarded as the railway revolution of early Victorian times was in fact the second revolution.
About the Speaker
Les Turnbull was awarded an honours degree in modern history by Durham University and has worked as a schoolmaster, university lecturer and senior educational advisor. Upon retirement he has served as a volunteer at the Mining Institute. He is the author of several books on mining history as well as articles for international journals such as The International Journal for the History of Engineering and Technology (2018), The Huntington Library Quarterly (2018) and the Sixth International Early Railways Conference (2019).
