RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted July 31, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2016 Hello everyone, There is a local book sale (where I live in Canada) and I just wanted to ask if the following titles were worth picking up (on a scale of "absolutely!" to "it would be nice to have but not a big deal if you don't"). Great Western Reflections - Beck Edwardian Enterprise - Norris, Beale and Lewis Gone with Regret - Behrand Go Great Western - Wilson The West Midland of the GWR - Wilson Great Western - Nock Freight Wagons and Loads in Service on the GWR and BR WR - Russell Great Western Engine Sheds 1847-1947 - Lyons Great Western Miscellany - Russell Great Western Wagon Appendix - Russell Cotswold Memories - Pigram Odd Corners of the GWR - Robertson Great Western Coach Appendix - Russell Footplate Days - Gasson Brunel's Broad Gauge Railway - Awdry Great Western Signalling - Vaughan Thank you in advance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigw Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Edwardian Enterprise - Norris, Beale and Lewis Freight Wagons and Loads in Service on the GWR and BR WR - Russell Great Western Engine Sheds 1847-1947 - Lyons Great Western Miscellany - Russell Great Western Wagon Appendix - Russell Odd Corners of the GWR - Robertson Great Western Coach Appendix - Russell Great Western Signalling - Vaughan The ones shown above are the pick of the bunch in my opinion. Regards, Craig W 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 I have to agree with Craigw with his choice, but I would certainly add 'Gone with Regret': it's more of a novel, packed with facts and reminisces,rather than an absolutely serious work. A little 'light' reading among all the more august tomes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 I would agree with the above posts. Those in Craigw's list are virtually essentials if you are modelling the GWR/WR. Even if not modelling the GWR, then they are great browsing books that you'll come back to time and time again. Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted July 31, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2016 So of the nostalgic experience books or any of the books dealing with specific lines are not essential? Assuming my layout is not modelled after a specific line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 For the others, depends on the price. If "going for a song" then I'd get 'em all. If not, then the ones mentioned by others (above) are the better buys. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted July 31, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2016 I believe it is 2 quid per book. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 I would bite their hand off and get the lot at that price. The Russell one's usually go for more than £10 each, if you can find them. Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted July 31, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2016 I would bite their hand off and get the lot at that price. The Russell one's usually go for more than £10 each, if you can find them. Jason Sell you to them to 30. Oops, let out my inner Gostude... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neal Ball Posted August 7, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2016 At £2 they are all worth getting. I echo Craig comments about the better books. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted August 8, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 8, 2016 I did end up buying the ones listed and a few more for about 2-3 quid each. There were two copies of the Freight Wagons and Loads in Service so I bought both. One of them has Jim Russell's signature "One buff to another, Jim Russell". 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben racey Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 You've got yourself a bargain lot there, well done! Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian777999 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 What is inside the book '' Great Western Wagon Appendix '' by Russell ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 What is inside the book '' Great Western Wagon Appendix '' by Russell ? That's handy. Someone asked a question about a book that was actually at hand. Mostly photographs of GWR wagons. About 190 pages worth. All good quality, mostly official photographs and well reproduced to a good size. Quite a few showing how they were loaded. All the usual suspects are there such as brake vans, cattle wagons, opens, vans, conflats & containers and a few of the rarities. Some drawings. Departmental stock as well including about twenty pages on GWR cranes including drawings. It may not be as thorough as the GWR Wagons book by Tourrett, Beard, Atkins, etc. But personally I would say it's indispensable. Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted January 9, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 9, 2018 Atkins, Beard, Hyde & Tourret Great Western wagons volumes 1&2 combined. Very much one of my bibles. It helps to research a particular wagon. Sad to say, I find Russel's books on the Great Western locomotives a bit of a let-down. RCTS is the way to go, normally only a couple of quid, they're packed full of information. Ian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 9, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 9, 2018 Atkins, Beard, Hyde & Tourret Great Western wagons volumes 1&2 combined. Very much one of my bibles. It helps to research a particular wagon. Sad to say, I find Russel's books on the Great Western locomotives a bit of a let-down. RCTS is the way to go, normally only a couple of quid, they're packed full of information. Ian. Some of Russell's books tend to be a bit on the sketchy side and there are errors in some of them (however finding books without errors is not as easy as it might sound). The RCTS books are way better than Russell but the Russell books do provide far better illustrations than the tiny photos in the RCTS volumes. I tend to always go to the RCTS volumes first (they're in the study so are nearer as well as being better; the Russell books are in the bookcases in the dining room). Apart from various official publications (not on locos) the RCTS books are probably some of the most frequently consulted on my bookshelves, the GWR General Appendixes are the most frequently consulted volumes in my entire library closely followed by the Engine Loads books. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Atkins, Beard, Hyde & Tourret Great Western wagons volumes 1&2 combined. Very much one of my bibles. It helps to research a particular wagon. Sad to say, I find Russel's books on the Great Western locomotives a bit of a let-down. RCTS is the way to go, normally only a couple of quid, they're packed full of information. Ian. That's surprising, when I had my old bookshop, full sets of the s/b RCTS GW loco book sets, in good condition, were going for £150 +, but it was different for the very limited edition hard-back sets which would change hand for between 3 to 4 times as much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted January 9, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 9, 2018 Disseminating the 'knowledge' is a multi-facetted affair. I still bump into stuff.... "Oh, hello, what do we have here?" Perhaps that's why Western models are sometimes difficult to produce. We've covered this at length only recently. Could you get a rivet wrong, when the bloke in the next county has some thousand-odd photos of those same rivets? As such a friendly bunch of disciples such as ourselves, it's our job to lead the unwary towards the light. "Come away from the light, for that path leads towards damnnation, purgatory, and Doncaster". Come to think of it, it makes a lot of sense.... Ian. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Prism Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 As such a friendly bunch of disciples such as ourselves, it's our job to lead the unwary towards the light. So we're not always, err, 'demons and ghouls' then, Ian? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 10, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 10, 2018 That's surprising, when I had my old bookshop, full sets of the s/b RCTS GW loco book sets, in good condition, were going for £150 +, but it was different for the very limited edition hard-back sets which would change hand for between 3 to 4 times as much. They tend to go for a bit less than that nowadays but it does depend on condition (as ever with booksellers) and also whether or not the volumes are the more recent editions. Odd copies of individual volumes seem to vary wildly in price - i spent a long time looking for the 0-6-0 tender engines volume and was occasionally finding copies at over £20 but overall they seemed rare hence the higher price. I finally got a copy last year from one of the outlets on the GWS site at Didcot in excellent condition and for less than £10, which definitely made my day. But I had to pay £20 for a brand new edition of Part 14 only a few months later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted January 10, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 10, 2018 So we're not always, err, 'demons and ghouls' then, Ian? Aaah! Miss P! Will I rise to the bait? Well, yes & no, in sometimes equal measure. A poster some time back gave us all a laugh, when one producer was dismissed 'out of hand' for some poor unfortunates inability to get it right. Some of it justified. But, the looking glass views both ways. We laugh, they cry. I've turned down lots of personal work contracts because some parts of the contract won't gel. Customers have demanded (yes, demanded) that I take on the contract before now, and I've walked away. It's little difference with our toy train market. A casual starting off, followed by information gathering. Keep it polite & business like. A bull in the china shop won't really work here. Demons & ghouls? make your own minds up. The bit that gets 'right up' is when the accepted knowledge is ignored. I guess now, we know better. If the new 'must have' is second-rate, then I'll keep my money in the wallet. The great 'we' can look around to entice another producer, with better quality & fidelity. As an aside, I'd guess that if Wild Swan had done the job, it wouldn't be some 30-odd pages of castles, and only some 8 pages across the entire volumes to cover the panniers. After all, it's only about 1,100 locomotives over an 80 year history.... Moving on... It does depend on the subject origin, of course. Lots of us have a significant collection of books, and can locate a photo within a short space of time to garner knowledge. Quite right. On the other hand, I get a 'kick' out of making things work, especially if 'it can't be done'. Quality has to be 100%: It can't be any other way. I applaud quality; it shows someone cared, someone tried. I'll take anyone who wants 100%: It's an asset. Wouldn't you want it any other way? Now , imagine a room full of petulant teenagers. Would you commit to a project like that? No, I'd guess not. Would you rather make another Skalextric car, My little Pony, or a railway locomotive, when the angry mob awaits outside, tar & feathers in hand? My guilty sins have come to haunt me. I have in the past, bleated long & hard about some detail or other, which, if I'm honest, can be worked around. Enough from me. I guess you'd heard enough. Just remember that we can lead. Some will, some won't. Cheers, Ian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian777999 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 (edited) Has anybody seen this book : GWR Goods Trains Working - Volume 1 by Tony Atkins ? The photos on the front cover look good but what is inside ? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GWR-Goods-Train-Working-From-Development-to-Guard-Duties-Volume-One-by-Tony/312029867053?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107090050%26meid%3De883d4dbfcce48fdbe6092434bdb26d2%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D311936752175&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850 Edited January 12, 2018 by brian777999 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 12, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 12, 2018 Has anybody seen this book : GWR Goods Trains Working - Volume 1 by Tony Atkins ? The photos on the front cover look good but what is inside ? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GWR-Goods-Train-Working-From-Development-to-Guard-Duties-Volume-One-by-Tony/312029867053?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107090050%26meid%3De883d4dbfcce48fdbe6092434bdb26d2%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D311936752175&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850 I've had a quick look through the second volume and got the impression it was a bit superficial but then I spent a considerable chunk of my railway career involved in freight operation and planning so I was undoubtedly looking at it from a rather specialist viewpoint. Overall however Crecy is a good publisher which turns out some quality volumes so it might well be worth a punt - if only for the pictures. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Has anybody seen this book : GWR Goods Trains Working - Volume 1 by Tony Atkins ? The photos on the front cover look good but what is inside ? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GWR-Goods-Train-Working-From-Development-to-Guard-Duties-Volume-One-by-Tony/312029867053?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107090050%26meid%3De883d4dbfcce48fdbe6092434bdb26d2%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D311936752175&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850 Hi All, I have both the books in that series and they above a good overview of what went on in the goods operations. As Mike says, there are some excellent pictures in the two volumes as well! I got mine with GWS member discount at Didcot’s shop. All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted January 25, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 25, 2018 (edited) Hi All, I have both the books in that series and they above a good overview of what went on in the goods operations. As Mike says, there are some excellent pictures in the two volumes as well! I got mine with GWS member discount at Didcot’s shop. All the best, Castle Funny, I also got mine through a member's discount* as well at the Didcot shop. *Five finger discount Edited January 25, 2018 by OnTheBranchline Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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