Our ethos and a rationale - why should you buy from us?

Established in September of 1992, the "Titfield Thunderbolt" is an independent bookselling business, which has become known for stocking and selling a range of high quality new railway books. All of our books relate to what might loosely be described as "the branch line age", an era exemplified by the railway depicted in the film "The Titfield Thunderbolt".

Owned and run by Simon Castens, the "Titfield Thunderbolt" is based at Limpley Stoke Station near Bath, the station at the junction of the branch line upon which the film of the same name was made in the summer of 1952. Although the station is being restored and is the postal address and spiritual home of the business, the book stock is not at the station but is currently held elsewhere.

Simon is in residence with the books on Mondays and Thursdays during the week, on other weekdays he is a librarian at Bristol University. In order to speak over the telephone therefore the best time to call is on a Monday or Thursday when the phone is manned or alternatively any evening from 7.00pm to 9.30 pm or any time at the weekends.

We stock in excess of 2000 specialist quality titles, and our "unique selling point" in comparison to any other bookseller is a combination of the titles which we offer for sale and the fact that each book is individually described. The descriptions are all original pieces of work, based upon personal handling and reading of each book in question, and are hopefully enhanced by the writer's personal knowledge and experience of the wider subject area of British railways.

Stocking "Policy"

We try to only stock books which we feel are worth owning, partly because a large part of the pleasure in running this business is in the handling of the stock, but also because in our experience it is these better books that are more rewarding to own. Because of this, these books are also easier to sell and tend to be those titles which become hard to find once they have gone "out of print". With a few exceptions, the books which one finds offered cheaply, or in remainder shops, are invariably those titles which have not sold well.

In our judgement, the criterion for judgement of a book's being "worth owning" will be a combination of some or all of the following; quality of reproduction of photographs, print quality, originality of concept, quality of research undertaken by author, sources of information, obscurity of subject, quality of writing, humanity of author, artistic ability of designer, and yes but probably last on the list - price.

A book does not have to be highly priced to be good, and indeed there are many relatively expensive books produced which I would not myself purchase. Ultimately it will come down to personal choice, and interest in the subject of the book. It is our contention however that books produced in this country are not expensive. A large format photographic book printed on to gloss art paper and bound in hardback will obviously cost more than a straightforward text in paperback, but they might be equally appealing. In our experience if you only buy books that you really like then you will rarely go wrong - our descriptions will hopefully help you to make informed choices.

Mail Order

We specialise in mail order, and are happy to pack and send goods anywhere in the World that has a postal service. There is no charge for packing, nor is there any surcharge for the use of credit cards.

We pack extremely securely, and can honestly say that in all our years of trading we have never had any goods returned or damaged in transit. We recommend small packet airmail as the best method of carriage outside of the UK, with small packet surface mail for especially heavy packages and we can give you a quote for the carriage of any items we stock before you place your order with us.

E-mail simon@titfield.co.uk