During the First World War, the railways of Great Britain were run for the benefit of the armed services. With minimal investment and much of the workforce conscripted, the railways paid the price for their war service. Many railway-owned ships were commandeered and never returned, some lost, others unfit for service at the end of the war, while yet others were retained by the Navy. The railway workshops were turned over to war work, building ambulance trains, armaments and munitions; the railway ports were heavily utilised while the tracks themselves, especially in the south of England, were turned over for military use. A fascinating insight into railways operating at their peak. For the first time, archival documents from the Railway Executive Committee have been analysed, and combined with data from previously untapped resources, to show the sheer scale of the railways' contribution to the winning of a war unprecedented in its scale and violence.