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Modelling: Rolling Stock Locomotives Layout Design Techniques Reference |
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Prototype: Rolling Stock Locomotives Branch Lines Light Lines Other Titles |
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| WILD SWAN |
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Modelling: Rolling Stock Locomotives Layout Design Techniques Reference |
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Prototype: Rolling Stock Locomotives Branch Lines Light Lines Other Titles |
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| The Golden Valley Railway | 136pages | Softback |
| W.H. Smith | 2002 | £15.95 |
| A most welcome reprint of one of Wild Swan's best ever books, first published in 1993 and out of print shortly thereafter. The subject was highly photogenic and consequently quite well covered by photographers of the day, but what sets this book apart are the photographs taken by the late Charlie Smith. Charlie was a driver on the line who sometimes took his camera to work, and the details and character that he captured with it are truly remarkable. The author and his collaborators have done a superb job of presenting the material and also include the whole story of the line's promotion, construction and demise, building upon and paying due tribute to Mowat's earlier history. This is an inspiringly beautiful book and a model of just how very good a branch line history can be. | 
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| The Hundred of Hoo Railway | 84pages | Softback |
| Brian Hart | 1989 | £7.95 |
| An irresistible history of almost a branch line system in Kent, part of which survives carrying huge "block" trains. With a rickety pier station and a water tower that came straight from the American backwoods this curious system would form the basis of an unusual model project. Still available at its original price and likely to go out of print soon, this is another bargain from a publisher of superlatively good books. | 
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| The Mid Suffolk Light Railway | 216pages | Softback |
| Peter Paye | 2003 | £21.95 |
| Reprinted in 2003 as a softback, a lavish and delightful book, with superb photograpic coverage including the work of Dr Ian C Allen and including full track plans and scale drawings of buildings - a real delight. | 
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| The Selsey Tramway Volume One | 188pages | Hardback |
| Laurie A. Cooksey | 2006 | £31.95 |
| Fully up to Wild Swan's highest standards, this is a well written and fantastically detailed account of a most interesting minor railway. The photographic coverage is astonishing, revealing much more than I have ever seen in print before and all of the line's trials and tribulations are fully explained and illustrated. Laid with incredibly light rail and utilising flimsy rollng stock, the line became part of the Colonel Stephens empire and staggered on until January 1935, after which it was sold off piecemeal as the Southern Railway had sensibly declined to take it over. A second volume details all of the line's hardware and rolling stock, although this book in itself provides a very complete record of the whole enterprise. |
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| The Selsey Tramway Volume Two | 146pages | Hardback |
| Laurie Cooksey | 2006 | £29.95 |
| This second volume describes the line's route and all of the rolling stock and is an ideal source book for modellers. The locomotives that the line used were a fascinating collection of industrial types and are illustrated and described in very great detail, including the very attractive 2-4-2 "Selsey" supplied by Peckett for the opening of the line in 1897. An assortment of internal combustion based railcars were also used and this book is the most detailed record of this type of vehicle that I have yet seen. Scale drawings of the antiquated stock used are included, mostly derived from photographs, together with sketches and details of the private owner wagons that were used on the line. Another lovely book from Wild Swan. | 
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| The Sheppey Light Railway | 104pages | Softback |
| Brian Hart | 1992 | £10.95 |
| By the same author as the "Hundred Of Hoo" book and every bit as interesting, this book is complete in every detail, from the articulated coaches used through to the Edwardian seaside scene. Closed in 1950, an unusual feature was a siding into an airfield. | 
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| The Shipston on Stour Branch | 106pages | Softback |
| S.C. Jenkins and R.S. Carpenter | 1997 | £14.95 |
| Losing its passenger service in 1929, and finally closing to goods in 1960, this minor branch was a GW rebuild of part of the much earlier Stratford and Moreton tramway of 1826. This book is up to the usual high standards of its publisher, and the attractive rural route with its numerous level crossings is well illustrated, as is the terminus and even the tramway north of Shipston which survived until just after the Great War. | 
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| The Talyllyn Railway | 326pages | Hardback |
| J.I.C. Boyd | 1988 | £27.00 |
| 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. |
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| The Vale Of Rheidol Light Railway | 264pages | Hardback |
| C.C. Green | 1986 | £26.95 |
| 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. | 
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| The Weymouth Harbour Tramway In The Steam Era | 94pages | Softback |
| Gerry Beale | 2001 | £14.95 |
| A very pleasing photograph history of an extremely photogenic line. A distinctive feature of the Dorset railway scene for many years, the tramway has even now not quite died, although it sees no current use. The author acknowledges the late John Lucking and his 1986 book, which remains the definitive history on the subject, but goes on to present an inspired collection of views. I have the earlier book, and while some of the earlier and "official" views appear in both, this collection makes a very worthwhile addition. There is a wonderful panoramic view of Weymouth Station taken from the tower of a now demolished church and the shots of the earlier tramway locomotives are as interesting as ever - a really lovely book. | 
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