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New book on GSWR locos


jhb171achil
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A man with a red suit was very good to me!

 

If I was to post here every time I get a new book I’d have no time to read them all.

 

But to a serious railway historian THIS is a MUST.

 

It’s published by Collon Publishing, whose details are below. I need hardly comment on the exceptionally high standard of the research, as the work of all three authors is well known as the standard reference works on the subject matters they have individually covered before.

 

I’ve only started going through it, but could not recommend it enough, already.

 

image.jpeg.f1bb181f13c7e4957cb4922dc72b1f5f.jpeg

Edited by jhb171achil
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10 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

Guess I'm not the only one to read the post as Glasgow and South Western Railway.


The post being in the “Irish Railways Group” might have been a clue...

 

Perhaps in the not too distant future there will be a “Scottish Railways Group” in the “Continental/Overseas” section of RMWeb.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

Edited by Darius43
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received today, nice book, very useful. just a pity most drawings are only side on. One drawing I am after is a complete one , including end views,for the A type tender. At the very least the width of the narrow body.

Are there plans to do books on the other Irish railways?

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LOCOMOTIVES OF THE GREAT SOUTHERN & WESTERN RAILWAY

 

by Jeremy Clements, Michael McMahon and Alan O'Rourke

(Collon Publishing, Collon, Co. Louth)

 

As would be expected, given the previous works of all three authors, this work promised to leave absolutely no stone unturned in terms of research, attention to detail, and the covering of all aspects of any issues which might have had several different research sources.

 

At the start, in keeping with this thoroughness, the authors point out that not all records have survived, and thus given the passage of time, some small gaps are inevitable in the information covered. Nevertheless, the content is very detailed, as one would expect for a work which draws heavily on the copious notes of the late R N Clements, arguably Ireland's greatest ever expert on Irish steam traction.

 

Many of us will be familiar with the "Big Green Book", or "GSR Bible" by two of the authors, and this book is set out in much the same way. The authors refer in the introduction to the necessity to have a standard way of notation for all locomotive classes, given the bewildering array of styles used by the GSR, the GSWR of the immediately preceding era, and earlier GSWR notations. R N Clements' own system based on Roman numerals is included - once one takes the time to get one's head round Bob Clements' logic, it all falls into place.

 

Many of the locomotive classes covered are obscure one-offs, but the efforts made to standardise some practices and components is well covered, as is the relationship between the early component companies of the GSWR, with their differing localised traction requirements. Naturally, the acquisition of the Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway by the GSWR in 1901, and the attendant absorbtion of its own locomotive fleet is well covered.

 

Illustrations are many and varied, all in black and white bar one on the title page, which is worthy of note in itself; it shows a large scale model locomotive (now in the headquarters of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in London), which is the only known example of exact GSWR green paint, and the lining style used from about 1870 or so to the mid or late 1870s. This was used as a model to glean details for the accurate livery now portrayed on GSWR No. 90 at Downpatrick.

 

Of interest to many is the complex story of the evolution, development, and later improvements, alterations and rebuilds of many classes of locomotive, as these were many and varied. I was personally very interested in the information relating in this regard to the J15s, probably the most versatile Irish locomotive ever - it's no coincidence that many of these which dated back to the 1870s managed to survive until the end of steam traction in 1963. 

 

This is, overall, a reference work of the very highest quality, like its predecessor. It will be the standard academic work on the complex, and fascinating, locomotive history of this, Ireland's biggest pre-1925 railway company. If I was to have any criticism, and it's a tiny one, it might be that a slightly more complex index be included - but in the grand scheme of things, this is a small detail.

 

This book is an absolute must to any student of Irish railways, and is released at a time when interest in the pre-diesel era in Ireland is, thankfully, rapidly growing.

 

If you haven't bought it, buy it! It isn't the cheapest book you'll ever buy, but the quality and depth of the information between its covers makes it absolutely worth every red cent.

 

Congratulations to all three authors.

Edited by jhb171achil
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On ‎07‎/‎01‎/‎2021 at 14:24, rue_d_etropal said:

received today, nice book, very useful. just a pity most drawings are only side on. One drawing I am after is a complete one , including end views, for the A type tender. At the very least the width of the narrow body.

Are there plans to do books on the other Irish railways?

 

If you refer to the three authors of this particular book, Simon, I am not sure of their own specific plans, but through contacts in the publishing world  in general, I am aware of several Irish railway books which are currently being worked on by a number of authors at the moment. None are specific locomotive reference book like this one - one is a railway history, and three or four more I am aware of are colour "picture, caption & background" books. Two that I know of are now with publishers. I am also aware of the future plans for projects by at least three other authors, so it's all good!

 

 

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  • 4 months later...

Drawings for Locomotives of the Great Southern & Western Railway

 

This statement is to clear up misunderstandings that have arisen about drawings published in Locomotives of the Great Southern & Western Railway.

 

Research for Locomotives of the GSR by Clements & McMahon (Colourpoint Books 2008) uncovered locomotive and tender drawings for almost all the 5’ 3” gauge types operated by the Great Southern Railways, a number of which had not been previously published. Size limitations prevented their inclusion in that work but a separate volume was planned to include all those drawings. Work on that project was abandoned following failure to elicit publisher support.

 

The main intention behind the recent and the 2008 publication had been to place historic information in the public domain and it was frustrating that many informative drawings seemed destined to remain hidden. Then the up-graded twice-yearly periodical New Irish Lines offered an ideal means of distribution. Data sheets for every locomotive type had already been prepared and Alan O’Rourke as Editor readily agreed to their circulation free-of-charge with issues of NIL. The main constraint was weight-related mailing costs which meant release of the drawings in stages.

 

The collection covers the following railways: GS&WR, MGWR, CBSCR, WLWR, GSR (i.e. 1925-1944), CIE. There are also some narrow gauge locomotives but for copyright reasons, a separate data sheet records those publications in which appropriate line drawings may be found.

 

All drawings are from secondary sources. They provide varying levels of detail and the accuracy of some should be treated with caution – particularly GSR diagrams. Nevertheless, those that are little more than outline sketches at least provide a general indication of proportions.

 

Locomotives of the GS&WR has been criticised for the absence of end drawings and plans. Readers are assured that if that information had been found during the preceding 16 years of research, it would have certainly been included. Some general arrangement drawings were found but size, age and condition made them unsuitable. One exception was a full set of plans for the GS&WR Type A tender but requests of the drawing’s custodians for permission to reproduce went unanswered.

 

Signed by the authors

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On 27/12/2020 at 19:07, DavidCBroad said:

Guess I'm not the only one to read the post as Glasgow and South Western Railway.


It’s the difference between GS&WR and G&SWR.

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  • 3 weeks later...

On the subject of GSWR locos, my grandfather took this some time a few years either side of 1910.

 

The question is, where? Obviously somewhere on the GSWR, but what location? The family used to go on holidays to the Birr area, near where there their aunts had a farm. So the greater likelihood is somewhere on the Limerick - Ballybrophy line, or the Birr branch.

 

There's a turntable, and just out of the picture to the left there is a stone-based water tower, the base being whitewashed.

 

A lollipop for the first correct answer. If I can find a lollipop.

 

 

img270.jpg

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