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The Acquired Wagons of British Railways by David Larkin


Ben04uk
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I have a copy on order so cannot comment specifically BUT if it is necessary for Paul to explain something to another reader by reference to entirely separate and 20-year old articles in the HMRS Journal, isn't that indicative that some fundamental facts/explanations are omitted from this publication? The majority of us do not have the collected wisdom of Dave Larkin and Paul to fall back on, which is why a writer should never assume a knowledge of key facts.

The list includes City of Birmingham Gas Dept and Clay Cross Co Ltd for example could readily be taken to be users rather than repair workshops. I now note there are footnotes at the end of the sections which do state "allocated..to..designated Private Repairing Firms", "...designated NCB wagons" and "designated railway workshops" - might have been better to make those statements before the lists.

Edited by Butler Henderson
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I have a copy on order so cannot comment specifically BUT if it is necessary for Paul to explain something to another reader by reference to entirely separate and 20-year old articles in the HMRS Journal, isn't that indicative that some fundamental facts/explanations are omitted from this publication? The majority of us do not have the collected wisdom of Dave Larkin and Paul to fall back on, which is why a writer should never assume a knowledge of key facts.

 

This is explained in the book. 

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This is explained in the book. 

Thank you, I did say I hadn't seen the book. I am assuming it is updated information as I know Dave has been working on the P fleet since the 1970s. To the best of my knowledge there aren't any known records which say wagon no. x originally owned by yyy renumbered as Pnnnnn. It is like we haven't found a record of the privately owned tank wagons in existence when BR was formed, unlike the other wagons which remained in private use but permitted on BR which was all in a book by the RCH - nearly 300 pages of it. i would love to hear from anyone whom knows otherwise for the tank wagons.

 

Paul

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Of course if people don't like the way the book is structured, or what it contains, or doesn't contain there's a very simple solution........write your own.

And if anybody who is disatisfied wants to off-load their copy please PM me I'll happily take it off your hands for a fiver.

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  • 1 month later...
  • RMweb Gold

Expensive exercise for freight just to find out!

 

Khris

Aust

 

Worth every penny though.

Those of us living outwith the UK have to live with our decisions, the HMRS wagon book being a case in point, and currently a couple of Strathwood tomes, the latest Hugh Longworth missive and Robert Carrolls hydraulic book all coming as one package will test my resolve!

 

Mike.

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  • 3 months later...

Just received notification from Bob Pearman Books of Volume 2 - All Steel Mineral Wagons and Loco Coal Wagons. Listed as unavailable on Amazon but details here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acquired-Wagons-British-Railways/dp/0860936945 stated due for publication 29 March.

 

I cannot find it listed on the publisher's website (Crecy?)...

 

Book Jacket 19-03-19-2.pdf

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2 hours ago, Pint of Adnams said:

Just received notification from Bob Pearman Books of Volume 2 - All Steel Mineral Wagons and Loco Coal Wagons. Listed as unavailable on Amazon but details here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acquired-Wagons-British-Railways/dp/0860936945 stated due for publication 29 March.

 

I cannot find it listed on the publisher's website (Crecy?)...

 

Book Jacket 19-03-19-2.pdf 419.98 kB · 2 downloads

 

Listed under "New Books" on the second page;

 

http://www.crecy.co.uk/the-acquired-wagons-of-british-railways-volume-2-all-steel-open-

 

where they state it will be in stock on 31st March, I think I'll have to pull my finger out and order it!

 

Regards

Edited by Wellyboots
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23 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

More expense...!:(

As an alternative, and if you are not that concerned about Loco Coal wagons, everything you need to know and more about the steel mineral wagons is contained in a series of 3 articles by Peter Fidczuk in Modellers' Back Track volume 1 numbers 3-5. The articles also answer the questions about the numbering discrepancies raised following publication of Larkin's first volume...

 

Photographs, drawings, tabulations, types, variations and subsequent alterations all covered in detail! You pays yer money and...

Edited by Pint of Adnams
Rectify word omission
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Had a bit of a suprise today; volume 2 arrived, I wasn't expecting it until early next month.

 

Just had a quick flick through, it doesn't disappoint, plenty of good photos to inspire wagon modellers.

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  • 2 weeks later...

An interesting book; I had no idea about the scale of steel wagon building, ostensibly for private operators, during WW2. I was also surprised how small some of these operators were. Stephenson-Clarke I could understand, but someone in Whitstable with two wagons..

One slight error were his comments about what absorbed 21t minerals were used for in the Swansea area in the 1960s. Most having no end-doors, they would have been of little use on the end-tipping coal-hoists at the docks; instead, they were used on flows to Carmarthen Bay Power Station, Burry Port, and Tir John Power Station, Port Tennant, Swansea.. I saw former loco coal wagons from three of the big four, along with assorted XPO wagons, on trains to the former into the early 1970s.

On a related topic, I wonder if any photos of the former Swansea Corporation wagons, with sliding roof still in situ, exist.

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2 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

An interesting book; I had no idea about the scale of steel wagon building, ostensibly for private operators, during WW2. I was also surprised how small some of these operators were. Stephenson-Clarke I could understand, but someone in Whitstable with two wagons..

 

Is that the pair of Butterley 12-tonners acquired by Gann & Brown of Whitstable? They're mentioned (with a drawing) in John Arkell's book on PO wagons of the South-East. According to the caption of the drawing, they were built by Butterley in 1935, and registered by the Southern Railway in September 1943, which suggests that G&B acquired them second-hand. Given the date, and the pressures of wartime, was it simply a case of a wagon owner being supplied with whatever was available at the time? - not that they'd presumably have seen much of them anyway with pooling in force

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24 minutes ago, Daniel W said:

Looking forward to this one. I have very much been enjoying the series so far. Although the potential number of volumes boggles the mind...

The gestation period for the books on ex-PO 13t and 21t has been enormous; he was talking about doing research for them as far back as the early 1980s, when he had the 'TOPS Circle' on the go.

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