Jump to content
 

Useful reference books


AndyB
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

I thought it might be useful to have a list of reference books?

 

Here's a couple to get the list going. But feel free to add your to the list.

 

Happy reading, Andy :drinks:

 

Diesels in the Highlands

 

post-4299-0-69431500-1308595678_thumb.jpg

I borrowed this book from the local library over the weekend. Very atmospheric pictures which are really helping me think through the scenery for my new layout.

Thanks to Andrew Vines and his co-photographers for sharing the photos.

 

Second on my list is:

 

Modelling Scotland's Railways

 

post-4299-0-66657900-1308596000_thumb.gif

by Ian Futers

ISBN 0 9538448 8 9

 

Here's a link for full details

 

I'd be guessing that Ian's efforts would already be well known to this group. All I can say is that it is very readable and sits next to my sofa, ready to be dipped in to in idle moments. It's packed with useful information and covers pre-grouping through to the present day. Helpfully it is divided into geographical regions and is a good mix of layout plans, prototype photos and instructive accompanying text.

 

Thanks to Ian for sharing his knowledge with us and can recommend this book wholeheartedly.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Jamie, you may want to move this post or the link contained, but I just stumbled on this site again 'Diesels in the Wee County' and it needs bookmarked somewhere on here for its sheer brilliance.

 

http://www.staff.stir.ac.uk/jeff.wotherspoon/sak/sakdieselera/sakdieselera1.htm

 

There's me north of the Forth for a change laugh1.gif

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello

 

One from my collection

 

post-7053-0-52027900-1308755922_thumb.jpg

 

ISBN-0-86093-429-2

Published in 1989

 

Managed to purchase this at a exhibtion about 3 years ago, very good for the 1980's.

 

Thanks

SEEYA

ANT

Link to post
Share on other sites

Chard I haven't set up an external links thread. Fancy taking that initiative? :yes:

 

 

 

OK - Books. Here's some relevant past reviews from this forum.

 

 

1. Probably the best railway book I've bought: BR Diesel Traction in Scotland, Geo. C. O'Hara.

Even if diesels aren't your thing, there are some pretty rare locations recorded country wide, and a wide variety of time periods are represented from the 1950s to the early 90s. Black and white, but don't let that put you off.

 

 

2. A recent purchase for me, orientated IMO towards the casual viewer. Doesn't detract at all from the quality of the images and a bit of a non-technical, non-anorak read is nice for a change... Discovering Scotland's Lost Local Lines, Julian Holland.

 

 

3. Another favourite of mine: Steam in the Scottish Landscape, Michael Welch.

 

 

now a pair I haven't bought

4. Scotland's Railways, The Classic Photography of W J Verden Anderson

 

 

5. Vanished Railways of Old Western Dunbartonshire, Stewart Noble

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Suggestions welcome for books covering the "Big 4" era North of the Border. Other than my DL Smith books, everything seems to focus on the 1960s, most likely due to the spread of amateur photography.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Suggestions welcome for books covering the "Big 4" era North of the Border. Other than my DL Smith books, everything seems to focus on the 1960s, most likely due to the spread of amateur photography.

Some suggestions:

'Steam Supreme - recollections of Scottish Railways in the 1920s' by R.D. Stephen. Published by Bradford Barton, no date. ISBN 0851533744

'T.G. Hepburn - Railway Photographer' by Ian Brown and Brian Stephenson. Published by Nottinghamshire County Council Community Services, 1998. ISBN 0902751220. Contains a section titled 'Scottish Scenes', with photos from the 1920s onwards.

'An Illustrated History of LMS Locomotives - Volume 3: Absorbed Pre-Group Classes, Northern Division' by Bob Essery and David Jenkinson. Oxford Publishing Company, 1986. ISBN 0860933830

'The Scottish 4-4-0 - its place in railway history' by Tom Middlemass. Published by Atlantic Transport Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0906899427.

 

There are also the 'Trains Illustrated' and 'Locomotives Illustrated' series of magazines, which cover the history of companies and their routes from formation to the present day or of classes from introduction to final withdrawal. Without looking up all the details, I know there are 'Trains Illustrated' issues covering the Caledonian, Highland and North British. And issues of 'Locomotives Illustrated' on (at least) :

- LMS Scottish goods tanks

- LMS Scottish passenger tanks

- GNOSR locomotives

- GSWR and Highland 4-4-0s

- Caledonian Dunalastair and Pickersgill 4-4-0s

- Reid NB 4-4-0s

- NB 0-6-0s - LNER Classes J31 to J37

- Scottish 0-6-0 and 2-6-0 classes of the LMS

- Scottish 4-6-0s

plus Scottish scenes in others on LMS Standard classes.

 

(Edited to correct and add to 'Locomotive Illustrated' titles)

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Some suggestions:

'Steam Supreme - recollections of Scottish Railways in the 1920s' by R.D. Stephen. Published by Bradford Barton, no date. ISBN 0851533744

 

There's a couple of other, more pictorial, books by R.D. Stephen available - still focusing on the 1920s / early 30s. His main interest was definitely the NB around Edinburgh & Fife, with holidays in the areas covered by the Highland and GNSR. The GSWR, alas, is very much the poorest relation in his books - but they are fascinating nonetheless I'm 2,700 miles from my bookshelf at the moment, alas - when I get home I'll update with the relevant titles etc. R.D. covered the pre-grouping, as well as the "Big Four" eras.

 

Others of note: Henry (H.C.) Casserley travelled extensively in Scotland in the 30s - I've a few of his books on said shelf, as well.

"The Highland in LMS Days", published by the Highland Railway Society, written by Jenkinson, Geddes & others, does what it says on the cover - and very well too.

"The Highland Main Line" - Neil Sinclair, again published by the HRS, has many "grouping" era photographs.

"Highland Miscellany" by Peter Tatlow (OPC) covers Highland and LMS eras, and is pretty much indispensible for anyone modelling the Highland, as is the same author & publisher's "Highland Locomotives".

"GNSR Carriages" by Keith Fenwick, published by the GNSR Society, is the definitive work on it's subject. Many GNSR carriages found their way into other parts of Scotland, due to them being sold off for use as hen houses / garden sheds etc - there's still quite a few scattered around in varying states of disrepair.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Some suggestions:

'Steam Supreme - recollections of Scottish Railways in the 1920s' by R.D. Stephen. Published by Bradford Barton, no date. ISBN 0851533744

'T.G. Hepburn - Railway Photographer' by Ian Brown and Brian Stephenson. Published by Nottinghamshire County Council Community Services, 1998. ISBN 0902751220. Contains a section titled 'Scottish Scenes', with photos from the 1920s onwards.

'An Illustrated History of LMS Locomotives - Volume 3: Absorbed Pre-Group Classes, Northern Division' by Bob Essery and David Jenkinson. Oxford Publishing Company, 1986. ISBN 0860933830

'The Scottish 4-4-0 - its place in railway history' by Tom Middlemass. Published by Atlantic Transport Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0906899427.

 

There are also the 'Trains Illustrated' and 'Locomotives Illustrated' series of magazines, which cover the history of companies and their routes from formation to the present day or of classes from introduction to final withdrawal. Without looking up all the details, I know there are 'Trains Illustrated' issues covering the Caledonian - 14, Highland and North British. And issues of 'Locomotives Illustrated' on (at least) :

- LMS Scottish goods tanks - 154

- LMS Scottish passenger tanks - 144

- GNOSR locomotives - 109

- GSWR and Highland 4-4-0s - 117

- Caledonian Dunalastair and Pickersgill 4-4-0s - 94

- Reid NB 4-4-0s - 96

- NB 0-6-0s - LNER Classes J31 to J37 - 137

- Scottish 0-6-0 and 2-6-0 classes of the LMS - 133

- Scottish 4-6-0s - 51

plus Scottish scenes in others on LMS Standard classes.

 

(Edited to correct and add to 'Locomotive Illustrated' titles)

 

Sorry to take over your post, pH.

 

I have added in the issue numbers of the Locomotive Illustrated ones above and added this entry.

 

Also The British 0-4-2 - 111 A fair number of these were owned by Scottish companies.

 

Trains Illustrated Caledonian Railway is number 14.

Sorry I can't help with the others, but not 7, 25-32 or 45, 51, 53. Possibly you may want to edit your list again with the above additional info?

 

Kevin Martin

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Sorry to take over your post, pH.

 

I have added in the issue numbers of the Locomotive Illustrated ones above and added this entry.

 

Also The British 0-4-2 - 111 A fair number of these were owned by Scottish companies.

 

Trains Illustrated Caledonian Railway is number 14.

Sorry I can't help with the others, but not 7, 25-32 or 45, 51, 53. Possibly you may want to edit your list again with the above additional info?

 

Kevin Martin

 

Trains Illustrated - Highland Railway is number 18

Trains Illustrated - North British Railway is number 21

 

I was only listing the Locomotives Illustrated issues I actually had myself. There are others, such as the one on 0-4-2s you've mentioned, and one on "NBR six and eight wheeled tank locomotives" (number 151) - I'm sure there are more than that.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • RMweb Premium

oakwood press has a few.

don't know about other areas, but fife-wise there's one each for st. andrews railway, anstruther& st. andrews railway, burntisland and the wemyss private railway.

still no sign of the leven & east of fife volume yet though

 

(apols for the brief post, will edit when i get the chance!)

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Almost anything by the late Derek Cross has to feature here - ditto WJV Anderson - then there's their finest work in Steam In Scotland Volumes 1 and 2 which are totally indispensible to the Scottish enthusiast.

 

Also for how it was in South West Scotland, Tales of the Glasgow and South Wetern Railway, and Legends of the Glasgow and South Western Railway in LMS days both by David L Smith.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Some books that are never far from my hand:

 

An Illustrated Survey of Selected LMS Stations volume 1

Preston and Powell Hendry ISBN 0-86093-168-4

 

Diesel Days Scotland

Brian J Dickson IBSN 0-7110-3070-7

 

Seventies Spotting Days around Scottish Region

Kevin Derrick IBSN798-1905276-19-6

 

BR Diesel Traction in Scotland

George O'Hara IBSN 978-0-9530821-2-4

 

Heyday of the Scottish Diesels

David Cross IBSN 0-7110-2869-9

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

A great wee book; for information on The West Highland, which is available second hand by doing a Google search is

 

Author: DOW, George

Title: The Story of the West Highland

Summary: LNER booklet originally issued in 1944 and then enlarged in a second edition in 1947. This included fold-out diagrams of a typical station; gradients; carriages and locomotive details.

The booklet was reprinted, uncredited and without the fold-outs and in my mind has poorly scanned photos

 

Prices from £1.99 to £10.00 2nd edition includes WW11 port and traffic information

Eddie

 

post-6643-0-95329100-1340687937.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

For those with an interest either in the Highland Railway or its various successors (right up to the present day), will wish to note that the Highland Railway Society keep a list of books that cover the area/topic in part or whole.

 

You can find this here:

 

http://www.hrsoc.org...bliography.html

 

...........and whilst it will be 18 months away, the list should increase by one before long. A much improved version of D L Hunter's book...................

Edited by Portchullin Tatty
Link to post
Share on other sites

The more well-thumbed examples on my shelf (some so well-thumbed the spines are long gone) are as follows:

 

Steam In Scotland Vol 1. Derek Cross & WJV Anderson, Ian Allen. Mostly the ex-LMS lines, 1950s-60s.

 

Steam in Scotland Vol 2. Ditto, mostly ex-LNER lines.

 

London Midland Steam North of the Border. Derek Cross, Bradford Barton, mostly the south west, 1960s.

 

The Last Decade of Scottish Steam. Derek Cross, Bradford Barton, mostly south west again but some ex-LNER coverage.

 

Two Decades of Scottish Steam. Donald Peddie (using the late Ian Peddie's pics), Strathwood. 1950s onwards, heavily weighted to the Stirling area but with coverage elsewhere.

 

Scottish Railways - Two Decades of Transition. More from Mr Peddie, including some absolute gems of pre-grouping rolling stock hidden in odd corners.

 

Sixties Spotting Days Around the Scottish Region. Kevin Derek, Strathwood, colour.

 

Roaming the Scottish Rails. Derek Cross, Ian Allen. 1960s-70s.

 

Twilight of Scottish Steam. David Hucknall, OPC.

 

Scottish Steam Album. Brian Morrison, OPC ? Annoyingly very few of the photos are dated but some cracking pics.

 

Scottish Steam in the 50s and 60s. David Anderson, OPC.

 

Branches & Byways - Southwest Scotland and the Border Counties. Robert Robotham's magnum opus, OPC.

 

Scottish Railways Then and Now. Gavin Morrison, Ian Allen. Nationwide coverage almost line by line. 'Now' was 1999 but I was only interested in the 'then' pics anyway !

 

Scottish Branchlines 1955-65, Chris Gammell, OPC.

 

Scottish Steam in Colour. Hugh Ballatine, Ian Allen. The familar landscape colour album format.

 

Scottish Steam in Colour vol 2. Chris Gammell's continuation.

 

On Glasgow and Southwestern Lines. David (and Derek) Cross, Ian Allen, colour.

 

On Scottish Lines. Derek Penny, Ian Allen, colour.

 

On Highland Lines. Robert Robotham, Ian Allen, colour.

 

Steam Trails - Scottish Lowlands and Borders. Michael Clemens, Ian Allen, colour. Apparently 'Borders' covers Ashington and Lambton Collieries but there's also 14 pages of PP&W stuff so I'll let him off.

Edited by stuartp
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • RMweb Premium

I think the Glasgow & South-Western Railway has been neglected by railway writers & publishers - I've just been given for Xmas the long out of print Oakwood book by Campbell Highet, recommended history read but few illustrations. David L Smiths's books are great oral histories of 'engines & men' but there never seems to have been an album of quality historical photos of the GSW, not just the locos, but carriages, wagons, stations, piers & steamers (there are two on the steamers which are recommended).

 

Does anyone know of one? Is it too late?

 

Dava

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

I think its worth mentioning the CRA publications here. The Livery Register by Jim MacIntosh The book of the Jumbo 0-6-0's by Dr H.C. Campbell Cornwell. and most recently, the wagon book by Mike Williams. All three jointly published by CRA-Lightmoor. Campbell Cornwell also wrote 'Forty Years of Caledonian Locomotives' (D&C)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Bridges for modellers - by L.V.Wood

 

Great source for reference for scratchbuilding all designs of steel girder bridges, brick, concrete, box girder, warren pattern, 'A'type etc, overbridges, underbridges, & intersection bridges.

 

Plenty of photo's of all types of rail bridges in the UK, as well as diagrams & typical measurements & dimensions, also showing the various underside detail structure, cross girder & longditudal , jack arches & a comprehensive glossary of bridge components & terminology.

 

A small section featureing railway tunnel portals also.

 

Was available in hardback, went out of print for a few years, but now recently back in print published in softback.

Edited by 0121modeller
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

West Highland Line: Great Railway Journeys Through Time (Paperback) By John A. McGregor

 

post-6643-0-94279900-1371403074.jpg

copyright John A. McGregor/Amberley Publishing

 

The book gives a short resume of the original West Highland line; which links Glasgow and Fort William. It was opened all at once in 1894. From the north shore of the Firth of Clyde then passes the Gareloch, Loch Long and Loch Lomond, before crossing desolate Rannoch Moor. From Corrour, Britain's highest and most inaccessible railway station, it descends through Glen Spean towards Fort William. In this book, Dr John McGregor uses a collection of photographs to bring the history of the line to life.

 

The photographs give a then and now of the various stations; some photographs I have came across before and a few new to me.

My only criticisms are some of the photographs lack definition and therefore seem to lack quality; like printing your own photos in draft form on ordinary paper at home

 

Otherwise a good read for the price of a couple of mags

Price £14.99 or you may get it discounted by doing a little search on the WWW

 

This book only covers the original West Highland line but there is another companion book called

West Highland Extension: Great Railway Journeys Through Time [Paperback] John McGregor

(still doing my paper round to get it )

 

 

Bibliographic data for West Highland Line

Title West Highland Line

Subtitle Great Railway Journeys Through Time

Authors and contributors By (author) John A. McGregor

Physical properties

Format: Paperback

Number of pages: 96

Width: 165 mm

Height: 235 mm

Thickness: 235 mm

Weight: 301 g

Language English

ISBN ISBN 13: 9781445613369

ISBN 10: 1445613360

Illustrations note 170 illustrations incl 87 colours

Publisher Amberley Publishing

Imprint name Amberley Publishing

Publication date 23 May 2013

Publication City/Country Chalford/GB

 

Eddie

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Just published- The Last Days of Scottish steam- an all colour collection of Bill Reed's photos from the last decade of steam. A very nice collection- all new AFAIT- and covering many of the smaller engines overlooked by some of the other colour photographers of the time. I found it full of modelling inspiration, not to mention nostalgia, and recommend it to all enthusiasts of that era.

 

The Last Days of Scottish Steam

 

Peter Tuffrey

 

Great Northern

 

978-0-9572951-7-9

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Another little gem- Highland Buses- full of colour images that are bound to get the imaginative juices flowing. Well worth adding to the Scottish collection,IMO.

 

Highland Buses

 

by John Sinclair

 

Amberley Publishing

 

£14.99

 

978-1-4456-1473-1

 

post-2642-0-26065800-1377459706_thumb.jpg

Edited by Ben Alder
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...