 | Narrow Gauge Highlights |  |
| Narrow Gauge Highlights | |
| The County Donegal Railways Companion | Midland Publishing | |||
| Roger Crobleholme | £14.99 | 112 pages | Softback | 2005 |
| Subtitled a handbook for railway modellers and historians, this excellent book started off as a straightforward collection of drawings and suggestions for modellers but grew in scope to become a well rounded portrait and evocation of a highly individual railway system. This is achieved through detailed descriptions and illustrations of the rolling stock and infrastructure of the system together with an intelligent and perceptive account of the railway and the area it served. There is also a small and well illustrated chapter showing how different people have modelled the line with no superfluous text or repetition of hackneyed modelling techniques. Excellent photographs and clear scale drawings are included, including a detailed examination of the wide variety of diesel railcars pioneered on the Donegal. This is a terrific book. | ||||
| A Guide to Ruston Narrow Gauge Locomotives | Moseley Railway Trust | |||
| Dave Hall | £4.95 | 58 pages | Softback | 2003 |
| A compact and concise giuide as per the title, potted history of company and its narrow gauge products, all types illustrated and including several scale drawings. | ||||
| A Guide to Simplex Narrow Gauge Locomotives | Moseley Railway Trust | |||
| D.R. Hall & J.A.S. Rowlands | £12.95 | 108 pages | Softback | 2001 |
| Reprinted in 2005, a real narrow gauge "tour de force" and an astonishingly well produced book for such a new and small publisher. Over A5 format on high quality art paper, chapter and verse on this manufacturer of NG locos. Packed with very full and clear photographs and scale drawings of what must surely be every variation and type ever produced. Invaluable reference for narrow gauge and industrial enthusiasts. | ||||
| The Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway | RCL Publications | |||
| Robert Gratton | £49.50 | 358 pages | Hardback | 2005 |
| Although this book has the invidious distinction of being the most expensive title that I have yet stocked, it is nonetheless proving a deservedly popular item amongst buyers. Both they and I have been won over by its presentational perfection and the utter completion of its coverage of all aspects of this 1904 first narrow gauge product of the 1896 Light Railways Act. Beautifully put together by the talented Roy Link and featuring a subtle use of colour where appropriate throughout, the quality of production of this book is utterly beyond reproach. Every aspect of the line and its surroundings are illustrated, original plans and sections come alive on the page as do postcards, original documents and the rolling stock through exquisitely well coloured drawings. There are also complete and detailed scale drawings of all stock together with a stunning and comprehensive collection of photographs of the line in operation. As the line was built by E. Calthrop, who had done much railway work in India, the line and its equipment had something of the grandeur of the Raj about it, in addition to being well thought out and engineered. The whole book is comprehensively indexed whilst appendices outline Calthrop's life and his many achievements, the "Barsi Railway", information on the lines promoters and even contemporary photographers amongst much else. I proclaim this to be a literary and artistic "tour de force" by anyones standards - hurrah! | ||||
| Light Track to Arras | Plateway Press | |||
| T.R. Heritage | £8.95 | 80 pages | Softback | 1999 |
| Not available since its first publication in 1931, this is a first hand account of the working of the British narrow gauge "trench railways" during the First World War. Well written and very readable, the book is illustrated by a large number of relevant photographs, and the whole thing is produced to the usual high standards of its publisher. | ||||
| The Lincolnshire Potato Railways | Oakwood | |||
| Stuart E. Squires | £12.95 | 160 pages | Softback | 2005 |
| A new edition of a book which was one of my favourite and most popular titles when I started this busines in 1992. An enlarged book containing many more illustrations than the previous edition, this book describes potato carrying lines on approximately 50 farms and estates in Lincolnshire. The biggest and most well known was the system at Nocton, run by the famous "Smiths Crisps" company, details of which are very well illustrated. Most however were small outfits on family run farms which the author has worked hard to record, with maps of layouts and photographs of mainly what is left. A fascinating story and good illustration of the value of a railway before road improvement and widespread use of lorries. One of my favourite pictures in this edition is the shot of the distinctive "Liquid Fuel" contrivance alongside an LNER locomotive at Littleworth. If you go to the Hulton Picture Library website and search for "potato railway" you will find the superb original photograph from which the book's rather grainy "author's collection" image comes from. | ||||
| The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway 1895 - 1935 | Oakwood | |||
| L.T. Catchpole | £9.95 | 128 pages | Softback | 2005 |
| Just published with a very attractive facsimile of the first edition's, this new edition has a large number of previously unpublished Catchpole photographs and additional information added to the text. Now more than ever before, this book is a comprehensive history of this legendary line, detailing its construction operation and subsequent re-equipment and swift closure and selling off by the Southern Railway. An extraordinary tale in many ways, recent suggestions have been made that the promoter planned it in such a way as to guarantee a limited success in order to prevent the masses destroying his beloved Lynton. Printed on art paper throughout, the book is copiously illustrated with good photographs and contains track plans and scale drawings of much of its rolling stock. | ||||
| The Malta Railway | Oakwood | |||
| B.L. Rigby | £9.95 | 120 pages | Softback | 2004 |
| An attractively produced and well illustrated book describing a British equipped 2 foot gauge line on Malta. Given that the whole thing closed in 1931 the photographic coverage is impressive and there is also quite a lot of the line left to see today, all described and illustrated in this charming book. | ||||
| Narrow Gauge at War | Plateway Press | |||
| Keith Taylorson | £9.95 | 56 pages | Softback | 2008 |
| A third reprinting for this very popular and morbidly fascinating collection of photographs, the story of narrow gauge railways on the Western Front. This edition contains some updated and corrected appendices but is otherwise identical to the earlier print runs. Actually the interest contained in this book goes way beyond the morbid, it's just that the I am endlessly haunted by the monstrosity of the "war to end all wars" and the subsequent planting of the seeds of World War Two by the victorious bloody politicians. Are we/they any better these days? | ||||
| Narrow Gauge at War 2 | Plateway Press | |||
| Keith Taylorson | £12.95 | 116 pages | Softback | 1996 |
| The statistics of the First World War remain truly appalling, and the wrecked terrain around the killing fields of the trenches prompted the development of a widespread network and variety of "field railways" (feldbahns) which were used to provide front line logistical support for the slaughter on both sides. This second book from this publisher on the subject takes a detailed look at the operations of Australian, British and Canadian light railway operating companies on the Western Font and further afield. The number and quality of photographs is staggering, considering the conditions under which most of them were taken and the antiquity of the whole operation. | ||||
| Narrow Gauge Rolling Stock | Ian Allan | |||
| Desmond Coakham | £14.99 | 96 pages | Softback | 2007 |
| A well written account of the story of rolling stock development on the Irish narrow gauge, which also gives an good overview of how the various lines each developed and inter related. There are a few scale drawings, but the strength of this book is in the very good photographic coverage of the subject. This is a very useful inspiration and source of material for narrow gauge and light railway modelling of any Irish or British subject, both passenger and goods. | ||||
| The Redlake Tramway & China Clay Works | Twelveheads | |||
| E.A. Wade | £9.50 | 84 pages | Softback | 2004 |
| A new edition of a 1982 book, reounting the history of an obscure 2 foot gauge line perched on the edge of Dartmoor and serving the Chine Clay industry. This new edition has more photographs than the original although the text remains the same, setting the railway into its proper context as part of the china clay industry and successor to the earlier Zeal Tor tramway, both of which are explained and described. A readable and informative description of a line which is still easily traceable on the ground, a significant survival being the engine shed - well worth a visit. | ||||
| Saga By Rail: Great Britain and The Isle Of Man | Oakwood | |||
| J.I.C. Boyd | £14.95 | 192 pages | Softback | 2007 |
| A really nice pot pourri of well illustrated reminiscences covering James Boyd's encounters with a catholic selection of railways, the majority of which are either narrow gauge or very minor outposts of the standard gauge. From school day encounters with the Somerset and Dorset through youthful wartime encounters with the Snailbeach and Festiniog to delights such as the Welshpool and Llanfair and Corris before preservation and closure. Some fascinating industrial railways are also explored, including an in depth look at the Whittingham Hospital Railway, the Isle of Man, Altrincham gasworks, Eaton Hall, Manchester's Ship Canal railway, the Tanat Valley, Talyllyn and Ravenglass and Eskdale, amongst much else. The photogaphs, mostly taken by the author, are extremely pleasing and cover the subjects very comprehensively. A super book and proving deservedly popular. | ||||
| Slate Quarry Railways of Gwynedd | Twelveheads | |||
| Michael Messenger | £14.00 | 96 pages | Softback | 2008 |
| A collection of Michael Messenger's own photographs recording the surviving slate quarries in the counties of Caernarfon and Merioneth in their last years of operation. A large proportion of these atmospheric images are in colour and nearly all have never been seen in print before. Steam engines, industrial diesels, double flanged wheels and archaic work practices are all brought back to life in a wonderfully browse-able book, which is fully up to the high expectations that this quality publisher has created with its wonderful books. | ||||
| Tales of the Old Corris | Gomer | |||
| Gwyn Briwnant Jones | £9.99 | 64 pages | Softback | 2008 |
| Another very appealing collection of previously unpublished photographs and further stories and recollections from the Corris Railway. The author has worked hard and with the help of a number of other individuals, all acknowledged in the book, has assembled another remarkable look back at this narrow gauge backwater, currently undergoing a minor but very pleasing revival. The book is beautifully put together and produced, I think my favourite image is that of driver William Roberts photographed with his son Ieuan on the running plate of No 3 in 1914 - wonderful. | ||||
| The Talyllyn Railway | Wild Swan | |||
| J.I.C. Boyd | £27.00 | 326 pages | Hardback | 1988 |
| Recently reprinted, this is surely a contender for the most beautiful and complete history of a railway ever to have been published. It covers operation before 1950 and subsequent preservation, and it is a meticulously researched and constructed piece of work. A particular pleasure is the very full coverage given to the different personalities involved in keeping the line running.The author first became familiar with the line in 1940, as did other enthusiasts of the time, and another of the joys of this book are the photographs of this small group visiting and enjoying the line, including a lovely shot of Rolt in his Alvis at the quarry. "Picture Post" also recorded the operation for posterity, getting the artist Emmet to pose sketching the line and setting up various other "scenes", many of which are recorded in this book. Above all else, this is a story of how individuals successfully struggled to keep an impoverished railway running against all odds. | ||||
| The Vale Of Rheidol Light Railway | Wild Swan | |||
| C.C. Green | £26.95 | 264 pages | Hardback | 1986 |
| The author first visited the Vale of Rheidol as a boy in 1920, and after a further visit in 1954, and recognising that its future was in doubt, he decided to set about recording all details of the line and its history. He was meticulous in his work, getting to know the men who had worked on the line, researching all aspects of the line's operation, and recording what was on the ground in exacting detail. This beautifully put together book is the result of his work, a superb record of a previously neglected light railway and a lasting monument to one man's passion. | ||||