Brunel's Cornish viaducts

Plot

A definitive account of the planning, construction and ultimate replacement of Brunel's celebrated timber viaducts in Cornwall offering a wonderful evocation of the time when the development of railways in Cornwall depended almost wholly upon the genius of one man, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Nearly all the viaducts are shown, mostly using hitherto unpublished photographs and extracts from the original drawings by Brunel showing all the significant structural differences. Although Brunel knew that the timber viaducts would probably be eventually replaced by something more permanent, he built them so well that the last one was not replaced until the mid-1930s, some 75 years after he died. Illustrated throughout with black and white photos and detailed schematic drawings of each viaduct. 146 pages.