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The Clayton Type 1 Bo-Bo Diesel-Electric Locomotives: BR Class 17.


tony6710
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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of the ‘Standard’ Type 1 concept, together with the whole tendering process is discussed in depth using previously unpublished archive material.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.

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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.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 15/03/2021 at 19:21, tony6710 said:

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.

I have just had an email from the people i pre-ordered from saying the book has been pushed back to May 30th. 
Global shipping must be rough at the minute. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 15/03/2021 at 19:21, tony6710 said:

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.

Any further updates at all? 

 

thanks in advance. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

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.

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I look forward to getting my copy as and when WH smith get theirs if your other two books are anything to go buy they will  be well worth the wait 

 

John 

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so WH smith get it in stock then cancel my order as i bought it on a gift card i will have to wait till they refund that could take up to 7 day 

 

John 

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I noticed I had an email on Friday giving an invoice for the book, sadly it didn't arrive Saturday, so I expect ity tomorrow...

 

Andy G

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I ordered mine from WHS as well and the day it arrives in stock they refund my money. 

Probably because they had the RRP as £30 whereas everyone else had the RRP as £40.

I'm a bit annoyed about the refund though as I bought it on a double deal with a CD that I wasn't too fussed about getting but it meant I got 15% off the order with free post. They have refunded me £21.24p which means I paid full price for the CD and got less back for the book leaving me with an £8.76p shortfall on their price. 

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We have this title on order from Pen & Sword and will put together a special offer together for them too as soon as they come into stock, but our customer service will certainly stand up better than the example given above as I put my name behind it.

 

Kevin

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9 hours ago, SGP said:

I ordered mine from WHS as well and the day it arrives in stock they refund my money. 

Probably because they had the RRP as £30 whereas everyone else had the RRP as £40.

I'm a bit annoyed about the refund though as I bought it on a double deal with a CD that I wasn't too fussed about getting but it meant I got 15% off the order with free post. They have refunded me £21.24p which means I paid full price for the CD and got less back for the book leaving me with an £8.76p shortfall on their price. 

according to WHSmiths website you can still order it for £24.60! not great customer service is it!

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On 29/05/2021 at 15:01, tony6710 said:

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.

 

As the book is obviously available, why is it still pre-order on the website, I've just tried to order one.

 

Mike.

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Or you could instead order it from a bookshop or supplier that knows its *rse from its elbow, of course you might not get such a good "deal" but you'd get the book without the b*ll*x.

 

James Hudson and Booklaw come to mind immediately, or you could buy direct from the publisher.

 

Too simple for most I appreciate....

 

Not Kevin

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Just now, Not Jeremy said:

Or you could instead order it from a bookshop or supplier that knows its *rse from its elbow, of course you might not get such a good "deal" but you'd get the book without the b*ll*x.

 

James Hudson and Booklaw come to mind immediately, or you could buy direct from the publisher.

 

Too simple for most I appreciate....

 

Not Kevin

 

Thanks for your vote of confidence in my abilities.

I have £100 plus order on it's way from Book Law, so I do support booksellers, but they have struggled with Pen and Sword in the past, so I deal direct to save them the hassle.

One thing I won't be doing is ordering from a supercilious insulting bookseller such as yourself.

 

Mike.

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40 minutes ago, Not Jeremy said:

Or you could instead order it from a bookshop or supplier that knows its *rse from its elbow, of course you might not get such a good "deal" but you'd get the book without the b*ll*x.

 

James Hudson and Booklaw come to mind immediately, or you could buy direct from the publisher.

 

Too simple for most I appreciate....

 

Not Kevin

i would normally buy  direct as i did with the first two books in this series but used WH smith as i had gift voucher to use 

 

John 

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A fellow bookseller's needless comments seem to have ruffled the feathers of some RM Web members.

 

But as promised we have struck a deal with Pen & Sword the publishers and are more than happy to pass the savings onto our customers along with our reputation for first class packaging and speedy service. Although the latter might require some leeway this week only, as already mentioned elsewhere it is known that Pen & Sword do have a reputation for slower deliveries and this includes to the trade as well unfortunately. Although we have been told our large order is being processed and "should" be with us in the next 24 to 48 hours.

 

So with this in mind I have just put their volumes live on our website with a 25% discount offer to make up for the short delay as we wait for the stock to arrive later this week. The same discount deal applies to the similar titles on Class 28 Co-Bo and NBL Classes 21 & 29.

 

Kevin

PS17.jpg

PS21.jpg

PS28.jpg

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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.

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