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tony6710

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  1. My next book in the Pen & Sword “Locomotive Portfolios: Diesel & Electric” series is due for publication very soon. This book will be “BR Swindon Type 1 0-6-0 Diesel-Hydraulic Locomotives - Class 14: Their Life in Industry” (ISBN: 9781399019170) and is a companion volume to “BR Swindon Type 1 0-6-0 Diesel-Hydraulic Locomotives - Class 14: Their Life on British Railways” (ISBN: 9781526792372) published about three months ago. My latest book deals with the forty-eight Class 14 locomotives which were sold into industry during 1968-70 after less than five years service on British Railways. Most material published to date has centred around their BR activities; this book attempts to re-address the balance by providing an extensive appraisal of their time in industry, including an explanation and rationale for their use on specific industrial railway systems. The book includes an in-depth coverage of the ‘careers’ of each of these locomotives in the coal, steel, cement and oil industrial sectors across the UK. Liveries, detail differences and disposal details are all included. Not to be forgotten, of course, are the five locomotives which were exported for use in Belgium and Spain (and possibly Italy?) after their industrial careers in the UK came to an end. Extensive use has been made of previously unpublished industrial archives and enthusiast sighting material, supported by over 260 photographs (with all 48 locomotives illustrated) and 15 maps covering many of the sites operated. 296 pages of pure Class 14 nostalgia! I hope you like it.
  2. Hi uax6, "br2975"'s new stuff won't be included in the next book. Design work on "Their Life in Industry" has been completed so it is now too late for it to be included unfortunately. "The Stationmaster" idea of a supplement or a "miscellany" book is being considered, this to include all new information acquired and/or received covering all of the Classes covered in my previous books. That will inevitably take quite a while though. Out of courtesy I will, of course, need to talk to "br2975" first, to get his permission to use the new material! I'm sure he will be amenable but I can't just assume that.
  3. Thanks for your kind comments, everyone. Regarding br2975's comment about new information.....For every single book I've now written, new information has turned up immediately after the manuscript has been sent to the printers, or soon after the book has been published. C'est la vie! Or the Law of Sodde!
  4. My next book in the Pen & Sword ‘Locomotive Portfolios’ series is now ready for release by the end of this month. The book is entitled “The BR Swindon Type 1 0-6-0 Diesel-Hydraulic Locomotives: BR Class 14: Their Life on British Railways”. Many outlets are already offering the book for pre-order. This book, as the title implies, covers the history of the Class 14 during their very short life with British Railways. A second book will follow very soon covering “Their Life in Industry”. Both books have been heavily researched and will provide the same level of detail as my previous four books on the Class 15/16, 17, 21/29 and 28 locomotives. In the late-1950s a requirement for about 400 Type 1 locomotives were envisaged by the Western Region; only 56 were eventually built during 1964/65 after design delays and all were withdrawn by April 1969.The reasons for the dramatic reduction of the actual fleet introduced and their rapid subsequent demise are explored, particularly with respect to the significant political, legal and economic forces in play at the time. Technical difficulties experienced by the Class are discussed together with actions taken to improve the availability and performance, actions which only served to make them eminently suitable and largely reliable workhorses in the their later industrial life. A few pages at the end of the book provide a pictorial ‘taster’ of their life in industry, a truly fascinating period in the later life of the bulk of the fleet. Thank you to everyone who have bought my previous books and I hope you will like the latest offering.
  5. My next book in the Pen & Sword ‘Locomotive Portfolios’ series is now very close to publication and “release into traffic”. The book is entitled “The BTH and North British Type 1 Bo-Bo Diesel-Electric Locomotives”, not surprisingly focusing on the British Railways Class 15 (D82xx) & 16 (D84xx) locomotives. I am told the books have now arrived at the P&S warehouse in Barnsley and will be available for despatch in the next week or so. Only three weeks late against the original publication date of end-October despite the prevailing world shipping and UK transport issues. The book covers the two Type 1 classes in the same level of detail as my previous three books on the Class 17, 21/29 and 28 locomotives. There are chapters covering the precursor NBL 10800 locomotive, locomotive ordering background, some technical stuff, allocations and works visits, operations, accidents, fires, etc., together with in-depth locomotive histories and coverage of detail difference and liveries. A huge amount of research went into determining works dates, with the very specific aim of pinning down livery change dates. Later chapters deal with the run-down of the two classes, withdrawal and disposal. The use of four locomotives as train-heaters is included to conclude the history. Within the book’s 350 pages, there are over 270 photographs, including two absolutely stunning newspaper shots of D8222 making a bid for freedom from the railway in Ipswich during November 1963. I hope you like it.
  6. Hi Kevin, You might also like to include my other (somewhat lesser known) book in your arrangement with Pen & Sword, i.e. "British Diesel & Electric Locomotives Abroad - A Second Life Overseas" which covers everything from Class 20s in France to Class 92s in Croatia. Classes covered are 20/37/47/56/58/86/87/92 and countries included are France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Croatia. Plenty of photographs, plus extensive chapter commentary on the locos concerned (detail differences, liveries, dates abroad, works visits (Bulgaria), etc.), locations operated (particularly those involved in high-speed line construction work) and work undertaken. To whet the appetite, imagine a photograph of a Class 87 in Bulgaria at the head of train-load of six newly arrived Class 86s (in a mixture of InterCity, Anglia, ETS, Colas and Virgin liveries)!!! Cheers, Tony.
  7. Thank you for your message about the Metrovicks, SGP. Unfortunately I didn't receive your e-mail via Pen and Sword. When I receive messages/letters in response to my books I do try to answer them as best I can. I was slightly surprised about the radiator fan noise, given that I have never heard this problem specifically mentioned and the cabs were noted for having good noise insulation. Maybe the issue was accessing the No.1 cab past the radiator (via that very strangely positioned driver's side door), rather than the noise of the radiator whilst in transit. The difference in riding characteristics of the two bogies was a separate issue and would have explained the driver's (and maybe Civil Engineer's) preference for the Bo bogie to be the leading bogie. The shot of D5712 at Grange-over-Sands on 3 August 1968 was taken by Michael Atkinson and appears twice in my book, i.e. on page 266 and on the back jacket cover! An excellent shot and apparently the last time Michael saw a Metrovick working.
  8. Good afternoon, At last my Clayton book has finally arrived. It arrived in the UK earlier this week and was delivered direct to the Pen & Sword warehouse. I received my copies today and am very pleased with the final result. I hope you all will be too! I must sincerely apologise for the delay. The imbalance of trade from China to the rest of the world has led to severe shortages of empty containers arriving back in China since Christmas, and the Suez blockage certainly compounded the issue of both empty containers to China and the loaded return traffic. I hope you find that it was worth the wait. Thanks for your patience and best regards.
  9. Bad news I'm afraid, guys. I've just been told by the publisher that the Clayton books are stuck in a port in China and unlikely to be in the UK before the end of April, which is a great shame given that it was printed on schedule. The reason given is a lack of shipping containers following the Chinese New Year. Unfortunately there's not much I can do about it; I can only apologise and ask for you patience. I'll keep you posted with developments.
  10. My third book in the Pen & Sword ‘Locomotive Portfolios’ series covering the 117 Class 17s is due to be published on 31 March, provided that there are no last minute glitches. This book is a 376-page monster, including 288 photographs, and covers the history of the Class from its ‘Standard’ Type 1 origins right through to condemnation and disposal. The whole subject of the ‘Standard’ Type 1 concept, together with the whole tendering process is discussed in depth using previously unpublished archive material. Problems with the Paxman engines are explored in detail using the minutes of the BR/Paxman Liaison Meetings held between 1967 and 1971; how BR addressed the various issues makes for absolutely fascinating reading! The reasons why the Class 17s ultimately fell from grace as the ‘Standard’ Type 1 is fully explained as indeed is the process behind the replacement of BR’s final requirement for 100 Type 1s with English Electric Class 20s (i.e. how D8617-D8716 became D8128-99, D8300-27). The availability of Engine History Cards for the vast bulk of the fleet (over 100) allows a comprehensive Works history to be built up for each member of the Class, also facilitating the dating of livery changes (e.g. from green to blue, and, yellow panels to full yellow ends) for most locomotives. Sighting information is used to bridge the outstanding Works and livery gaps. Storage, withdrawal and disposal details are constructed using both archive sources and the observations of numerous enthusiasts covering the period 1968 to 1975. The archive material exposes locomotives in storage never previously published. The industrial service of D8568 is included as is the use of several members of the class as mobile generators, including some never previously reported. I am fully aware that another book exclusively on the Claytons was published in 2016. My book attempts to fully complement this “Illustrated History” by providing a detailed insight into the life and times of the Claytons using a combination of archive sources, official material and personal sightings, supported by photographs to underpin the story. I hope some of you will find my efforts of interest, a project which thankfully kept me fully amused during the Covid lockdown period.
  11. Last month Pen & Sword published my book "The Metropolitan-Vickers Type 2 Co-Bo Diesel-Electric Locomotives" (Anthony P. Sayer). This is far from being a picture book, although it does contain over 180 images within its 272 pages; rather it is an in-depth history of the class, derived from various archive sources and personal information, with considerable quantities of previously unpublished material (particularly surrounding external design (including those very strange windows), Works visits, problems in traffic, the Dukinfield rehabilitation process, and the scheme to re-engine the 20 Metrovicks with an alternative engine (English Electric or Sulzer)) as well as extensive details covering liveries, storage, disposal, etc. Many old myths are debunked (notably the infamous Barrow depot fire) and new insights are provided. Hopefully it might be of interest to some, following in the footsteps of my earlier book "The NBL Type 2 Bo-Bo Diesel-Electric Locomotives Class 21 & 29", which seems to have been well received (and indeed commented upon elsewhere here in this Forum).
  12. On the basis of recent posts, it seems as though it is perfectly legitimate and accepted practice to personally advertise books in this section of the RMWeb Forum. So here goes..... Pen & Sword also recently published my book entitled "British Diesel and Electric Locomotives Abroad - A Second Life Overseas" (Anthony P. Sayer). This is very different from my NBL and Metrovick books, in the sense that it is largely a picture book (240 images in total). Having said that, however, it does provide in-depth locomotive details of all locomotives sent abroad (including movement details, operational areas, livery changes, re-numberings, Works visits (where known), etc (with appropriate dates)), together with chapter introductions explaining the use of locomotives whilst abroad, quite a complex subject particularly for those locomotives which visited Spain. Much previously unpublished information is included. The book covers main-line locomotives only i.e. Classes 20, 37, 47, 56, 58, 86, 87 and 92, over the period 1998 to 2018. The countries covered are France (20/37/56/58), Spain (37/58), Italy (37), Netherlands (58), Bulgaria (86/87/92), Hungary (47/56/86), Romania (92) and Croatia (92), plus 47375 on its excursion into Austria in June 2018. May be of interest to some? To whet the appetite, picture six Class 86s (variously in Anglia/Inter-City/Colas/ETS/Virgin liveries) being dragged together across Bulgaria by a British Class 87 and a Danish EA3000! It's all here!
  13. Further to recent comments regarding the full yellow ends (fye) on forthcoming Dapol Class 29 models. The fye on D6129 being an Inverurie BFY repaint is correct in having the "stepped" boundary near to the bottom corner of the driver/secondman windows. However the stepped boundary is NOT correct on (D)6112 (GFY) and (D)6107 (BFY). Both of these were Glasgow Works repaints. D6107 received BFY on conversion to a Class 29 in June 1967, with (D)6112 getting its fye (on the pre-existing green) during its first Classified repair as a Class 29 in June 1971. To help illustrate the point, photos of D6107 and 6112 appear on pages 224 and 63 respectively of the recent Pen & Sword book "The North British Type 2 Bo-Bo Diesel-Electric Classes 21 & 29". Similarly D6129 on page 108. Hopefully the errors on (D)6107 and (D)6112 will be corrected by Dapol before their release in 2020. I've already pre-ordered D6114 and D6129, but I'm waiting to see how the shipped 6107 and 6112 models have been painted before ordering. Hope this helps.
  14. Hello, In anticipation of 26th February, is anyone able to supply a full list of locomotives seen at Crewe Works on Sunday 26th February 1967, please? Any help appreciated. Best regards, Tony.
  15. Thanks for the 25th April 1972 Glasgow Works report. Very much appreciated. Cheers, Tony.
  16. Hi, Absolutely fascinating thread this one. Turning this one round a bit. Can I make a request for visit reports based around the OTDIH approach? What I'm interested in is whether anyone has any reports for Glasgow Works and/or Eastfield depot any time in the period between 9th April (1972) and 14th May (1972). Not far into the future so could fit the OTDIH model. Thanks for any help. Cheers, Tony.
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