New Tracks in the History of Railways Conference, 17-18 September 2020

We’d like to highlight the New Tracks in the History of Railways (NTIHOR) Conference to readers. It is a two-day Twitter conference, open to all, looking at new research and study in the field of railways.

You can follow events by visiting the hashtag linked below on the days in question, or by following the links to an individual speaker. No Twitter account is required for passive participation.

Day 1 – 17 September 2020 (#NTiHoR)

All times British Summer Time (BST)

09:50 Welcome (@NTiHoR2020)

10:00 Organisation and Function – Chair: Erin Beeston (@Erin_bee)

10:00: Joel Baker (Sheffield; @joelrbaker) – Populism, dictatorship, and Spain’s ‘railway problem’, 1923-1930
10:30: Carolyn Dougherty (Independent; @CarolyninManc) – The carrying question: The railway companies’ battle for control of goods carriage,1835-1855
11:00: Rob Langham (Independent; @GallipoliGunner) – Wooden rails to steel wheels – the development of the Tanfield branch in the 19th & 20th centuries as a microcosm of mineral haulage in the North East of England

11:30 Railway Workers – Chair: Mike Esbester (@RWLDproject)

11:30: Rachael Cottle (Deakin; @rachcottle) – Who are the women of the VR?
12:00: Michael Hall (Independent; @Humberlevels) – Those who built Immingham
12:30: Chloe Shields (Strathclyde; @ChloeAShields) – Female dining car attendants in the First World War
13:00: Matthew Calloway (Independent; @PiedmontLimited) – Fountain of memory: Black convicts and monuments to railroad construction in North Carolina

13:30 Lunch

14:30 Literature and the Railways – Chair: David Turner (@TurnipRail)

14:30: Alicia Barnes (Surrey; @aliciarbarnes) – Narrating the railway nation: John Herapath’s Railway Magazine
15:00: Matthew Oxley (Sheffield; @oxleymatthew) – Is there such thing as ‘railway consciousness’?
15:30: Matthew Wimberley (Lees-McRae; @MattWimberley) – Poetry as witness – The Tay Bridge Disaster as recounted by William Topaz McGonnagall

16:00: Making Histories – Chair: Sophie Vohra (@sophievohra)

16:00: Mike Esbester (Portsmouth; @RWLDproject) – Amateur, enthusiast, academic: All experts
16:30: Jeff Schramm (Missouri; @DrJSchramm) – ‘Never so warm again’, A cultural history of the end of steam
17:00: David Amos (Mine2Minds Education; @MuBuMiner) – Steaming back to Kirkby: Memories of Kirkby-in-Ashfield loco shed and sidings (1903-1970)

17:30: Close of Day 1

New Tracks in the History of Railways Conference, 17-18 September 2020
Day 2 – 18 September 2020 (#NTiHoR)

All times British Summer Time (BST)

09:50: Welcome [@NTiHoR2020]

10:00: Exhibitions and Display – Chair: Mike Esbester (@RWLDproject)

10:00: Adonis Li (Hong Kong; @AdonisMYLi) – Green: How a General Motors locomotive came to represent a Hong Kong town
10:30: Erin Beeston (Manchester; @Erin_bee) – Progress on display: Exhibiting railway technology in interwar Britain
11:00: Matthew Dawe (Cardiff; @MattDawe4) – Still steaming on: Conservation and authenticity in steam locomotive preservation
11:30: John McGoldrick (Leeds Museums; @industrialoid) – Following the money: Aspects of colonialism in Leeds Industrial Museum collections

12:00: Shaping Environment and Space – Chair: Erin Beeston (@Erin_bee)

12:00: André Brett (Wollongong; @DrDreHistorian) – Railways and water in Australasia, 1870s–1914
12:30: Priyanka Panjwani (Mumbai; @PriyankaPanjw14) – The railway heritage of Mumbai
13:00: Scott Huffard (Lees-McRae; @shuffard) – Towards a global perspective on railroads in the U.S. south

13:30 Lunch

14:30: Railways and Leisure – Chair: Sophie Vohra (@sophievohra)

14:30: Karen Averby (Independent; @KarenAverby) – Railway revolution: new tracks to new seasides
15:00: Adam Chapman (IHR; @DrAdamChapman) – Station and place – Minehead
15:30: Victoria Dawson (UCL; @VSDawson) – The ‘Women going to Wembley, 1950-1975’ project: An overview
16:00: Laura Littlefair (Durham Castle Museum and Museum of Archaeology; @Vintagelilfairy) – The art of persuasion: How the railway poster explored the social and cultural impact of the railways in the twentieth century

16:30: Railway Function – Chair: David Turner (@TurnipRail)

16:30: Gordon Dudman (Independent; @GordonDudman) – Advance timetable information – The rail industry’s poisoned chalice
17:00: Gerard J Fitzgerald (George Mason; @gfitzgerald111) – The thirsty iron horse: Water softening technology and steam locomotive infrastructure technology in the United States 1900-1950

17:30: Conference Summary (The Conference Team) (@NTiHoR2020)

17:40: Close of Conference
18:00-19:30: Post-conference social, on Zoom. Please sign up (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/120353543689); joining details will be sent to you at c.17:00 on the 18th.