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Rolling Stock & Locomotives Highlights |
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Rolling Stock & Locomotives Highlights |
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| British Railway First Generation DMUs in Colour | Ian Allan | |||
| Stuart Mackay | £14.99 | 96 pages | Softback | 2006 |
| A really first class and logical account and description of all of the "classic" DMUs that were built for British Railways, fully illustrated throughout with excellent colour photographs. Although these units survived into the era of sectorisation, the illustrations are predominantly of "proper" BR liveries with a good proportion of the first liveries applied. The subtle changes in both livery detail and vehicle specifications are very well explained and illustrated with much use being made of the excellent "Colour Rail" resource. There are some really atmospheric shots in this book, apersonal favourites are a Class 120 running as a "power twin" through Barnstaple Town and a blue liveried Class 108 running through Weekday Cross Junction on the old GC in Nottingham. This is a really good book and with the bonus of being written by someone who really does know his subject properly- highly recommended. | ||||
| Coronation Scot | Edward Talbot | |||
| Edward Talbot | £15.00 | 102 pages | Softback | 2008 |
| A very wecome reprint in softback format of a stylish book recording in words and pictures the brief but spectacular era of streamlined trains on the LMS. The author went to great lengths to include really excellent photographs, locomotive portraits and details, carriages (exteriors and interiors), the American tour, and views of construction, and produced a singular and very appealing book. There are also striking paintings of the trains reproduced in full colour together with its stylish publicity material all of which is printed on to quality art paper. An unusually captivating railway book which I am still very tempted to add to my collection, despite its having nothing to do with the Somerset and Dorset or light railways - highly recommended. | ||||
| Great Western Steam Rail Motors and their Services | Wild Swan | |||
| John Lewis | £37.95 | 308 pages | Hardback | 2004 |
| Chapter and verse on the subject, everything from detailed scale drawings of fittings and complete vehicles of all types through to allocations, services and even failures. The whole story from initial development is covered, as are the vehicles of the Great Western's constituent Welsh companies - the small petrol electric railcar also creeps in with its own small section, but everything else is steam. The collection of photographs reproduced is unimpeachable, showing the power plants, vehicles under construction, interior shots and of course the railcars in service. A personal favourite is the double page photograph on pages 34 and 35 showing several steam railmotors and a power plant outside the Works at Swindon whilst it is being extended. A really lovely book and as good an example of any of how very well organised the Great Western Railway was. As an aside I am afraid that I find Swindon a terribly depressing place since the works was demolished and I also wish that the execrable First Group would give up the "Great Western" title - they are not worthy of it. | ||||
| Lancashire and Yorkshire Wagons Volume Two | Wild Swan | |||
| Noel Coates | £35.95 | 454 pages | Hardback | 2006 |
| Following on from volume one, with consecutively numberd photographs and diagrams, this book completes the account with a detailed examination of covered goods, coal and mineral, bogie merchandise, livestock and special wagons - including the essential brake van. Very well illustrated with informative photographs and official drawings, the book also deals with the use of wagons and their loads, several photographs showing the great bales of cotton used by the numeroust mills served by the company. An excellent reference source and another fascinating insight into how well commerce and industry were served by the steam railway. | ||||
| The Liveries of the B.R. Standard Diesel Electric Shunters in Colour 1952-1996 | SDJ Publications | |||
| Steve Jordan | £13.50 | 80 pages | Softback | 2006 |
| A detailed examination of the development and changes in livery of the "standard" diesel shunter on BR, the class 08 and 09 type. Very well reproduced photographs illustrate the surprisingly large number of livery variations that have been carried by this ubiquitous locomotive. Interesting in its own right and brilliant reference for modelllers of the BR period. | ||||
| LSWR Carriages Volume 4 | Kestrel Railway Books | |||
| G R Weddell | £25.00 | 160 pages | Hardback | 2006 |
| Subtitled goods, departmental stock and miscellany, this fourth volume of Gordon's peripatetic masterwork perversely avoids any coverage of carriages, the subject having been comprehensively covered in volumes 1 to 3. Instead it mops up the subject of LSWR rolling stock with a detailed and well illustrated account of earlier goods stock and the more exotic vehicles such as gas holders and cranes whilst a final chapter covers odd minutiae such as buffer stops, Pooley vans and platform barrows. This is an excellent reference work for modellers and devotees of the early railway scene, with clear photographs and good scale drawings. An especially pleasing feature is that the subjects have been chosen to complement the coverage of LSWR wagons given in the OPC publication Southern Wagons Volume 1. | ||||
| Private Owner Wagons A Fifth Collection | Lightmoor Press | |||
| Keith Turton | £19.95 | 184 pages | Hardback | 2006 |
| A fifth volume of a deservedly popular series, this one returns to presenting a general range of wagons and their operators based upon material which readers of the earlier boks in the series have provided. Over 60 operators represented by 170 photographs, with northern coal wagons predominating. There are also some additional notes and photos relating to earlier volumes in the series. | ||||
| Private Owner Wagons A Fourth Collection Welsh Anthracite | Lightmoor Press | |||
| Keith Turton | £19.95 | 184 pages | Hardback | 2005 |
| Anthracite "The King of Coals", a high carbon content, slow burning coal whose lack of arsenic and other impurities made it an essential supply for brewing, malting and food production. Mined in a small area of South Wales, the usually black wagons of anthracite were consequently seen all over the British railway system, often as a single truck consignment to out of the way places. The photographic coverage is excellent, a charming view on p71 shows a single wagon being unloaded on the Sheppey Light Railway whilst the frontispiece is a dramatic view of number taking which shows in incomparable detail the construction and lettering of a typical wagon. I am currently building a Slaters kit which will be lettered with their "Ystradgynlais" transfers for the boiler house of the "National Fruit and Cider Institute" at Butleigh station. | ||||
| Private Owner Wagons of Gloucestershire | Lightmoor Press | |||
| Ian Pope | £21.99 | 240 pages | Hardback | 2006 |
| Covering the private owner wagons operated by businesses and coal merchants north of Bristol, this terrific book takes us on a logical tour around the county along its various railway routes, starting from the city of Gloucester. Owners include the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon works itself, the Corporation and even a beehive manufacturer, amongst many others. The illustrations are very well reproduced and alongside the wagons themselves reveal fascinating details of businesses, their premises and railway infrastructure. A further volume is being prepared for South Gloucestershire. | ||||
| Pullman Trains in Britain | Oakwood | |||
| R.W.Kidner | £8.95 | 112 pages | Hardback | 2005 |
| A straight reprint of the very popular 1998 book, a well illustrated and well written book that more than any other to date makes sense of the very complicated Pullman story. Although the "Blue Pullman" and late build Metro Cammell stock is touched upon, the book's strength is the history of the earlier build "traditiional" types, which is brought up to date for the incredibly high number of survivors used by VSOE and preserved railways. An interesting story and a useful lliterary accessory for the beautiful new pullman models now being produced by Hornby and Bachmann in 4mm scale. | ||||
| The Railway Products of Baguley Drewry and its Predecessors. | IRS | |||
| Allen Civil and Roy Etherington | £29.99 | 372 pages | Hardback | 2008 |
| Once in a while the Industrial Railway Society excel themselves by producing an exceptionally good book - this is one of them. The story of two companies, their relationship to one another, and the very many products that they produced. Complete with works lists and comprehensive historical details, as we have come to expect from the IRS, it is the quality of presentation coupled with the detailed photographs of the distinctive and often quirky products of particularly Baguley that set this book apart. Although there are no scale drawings of stock, the information given together with very detailed photographs will make modelling many of these vehicles easier than ever before. Modelling apart it is a fascinating account of a distinctive part of the once great British engineering industry. Produced in a large format and with 370 odd pages on quality art paper this is also very good value, in my opinion. | ||||
| The Ruston Class 48DS & 88DS Locomotives. | Moseley Railway Trust | |||
| Dave Hall | £4.95 | 58 pages | Softback | 2003 |
| A wonderful little book, comprehensive details of two of the smallest diesel shunters classes ever produced in this country. Although the 88DS is the more ubiquitous, both historically and in preservation, I have to confess that I find it a bit of an "ugly duckling". Not so the 48DS, a neat looking machine with its origins in a prototype built from the firm's narrow gauge components as long ago as 1935 and pictured in this book shunting cases of baked beans in Heinz's Willesden factory. After moving to that firm's Standish factory, it was sold to a dealer in 1962, and survived until 1972 when it was sadly broken up. This book contains a full works list of both types, complete with original customers, together with a list of surviving examples and their locations. There are also scale drawings of most types, together with a number of photographs and other material. The acme of the whole story for me is the type of loco and prototype operation illustrated on page 13 - what a perfect prototype for modelling, especially in the larger scales. In summary, my only complaint is that I would have liked more, this type of locomotive and the industries it served is a part of our railway history that is full of interest and much overlooked, and this book is a significant milestone in putting this right. | ||||
| SE&CR Carriages | Lightmoor Press | |||
| Phil Countache | £19.95 | 128 pages | Hardback | 2007 |
| A collection of 50 types of bogie carriages, complete with photographs, 4mm scale plans and details of build dates, number sequences and histories. The whole is put together by an acknowledged authority on the subject and the quality of both the scale drawings and photographs is excellent. Towards the end of the book there are detailed drawings of bogies, panelling and coach ends, in addition to a tantalisingly brief look at Ashford Works where the carriages were mostly built. As an aside to the subject, the book contains some very nice pre grouping views of a railway that doesn't appear in print too often. | ||||
| A Southern Electric Album | Capital | |||
| Michael Welch | £16.95 | 96 pages | Hardback | 2003 |
| This is another book that I really like. Although like the author my preference is for steam traction, having lived around and travelled on the Southern Electric I find the subject entirely fascinating. The choice of colour coupled with the avoidance of anything post blue and grey, with the balance tipped slightly in favour towards the historic "green" era, make this book absolutely perfect in my opinion. The author has a good eye for a photograph and has obviously got some good connections judging from the variety and quality of images assembled in this book. Subjects include views inside maintenance depots, electric locomotives, the pullman units and much railway infrastructure at a time of interesting change and modernisation. One very slight complaint is a slight lack of South Western suburban (no Hampton Court!), but this is a very minor qualm. This is a great book, stylishly presented and well printed and if the subject holds any apeal for you then you are going to be sorely tempted. | ||||