Which is you favourite Railway Book.

[The Johnster]

It was actually the McDonnell Douglas DC10 that had the cargo door issue.

 

Ah, yes, that's right.

[Torper]

Hmmm - well, there are reference books.  I'be bought quite a lot of them, especially modelling ones, but truth be told haven't actually read many of them in any depth even when I should have.  As a result I've found myself having built something and never looked at the book that might (or might not) have helped me with my task.  Daft I know......

 

Really, I prefer railway novels.  I've recently finished "The Necropolis Railway" by Andrew Martin, the first in a fairly long series of books (nine at last count) featuring railwayman turned detective Jim Stringer.  Set in Edwardian times there's lots of railway in it (too much for some Amazon reviewers - quote from one "The narrator has an obsessive interest in engines and railways, to such an extent that he is actually accused of being boring on the subject") and I rather liked it though it was a bit odd, possibly because although it's a modern book it was written in the style and language of the period.  I'll probably buy another one (there are plenty of the Jim Stringer books at £0.01 on Amazon).

 

DT

[tractionman]

Blimey, I see I posted in this thread in January 2011, six and a half years ago, where does the time go...?

 

Then I was consumed by all things BR blue, now my must have reading is the LMS Engine Shed volumes, by Hawkins and Reeve, in close company with the Essery and Jenkinson Illustrated History of LMS Locomotives.

 

Wonder what railway topic it'll be I'll be obsessively reading in another six years?

 

All the best,

 

Keith

[Pacific231G]

I think for me it would have to be The End of the Line by Bryan Morgan. It was written in the mid 1950s when Europe's secondary and light railways were rapidly disappearing and railways in general didn't seem to have very much of a future. Though not always entirely accurate it gives a wonderful sense of the atmosphere of the now long lost steam tramways and mostly metre gauge rural railways.

 

"At big dull Montereau the things all go down to the Seine over a spur, whilst the passenger terminus consists of a set of buffers made of a disused road sign, some rusting café tables and a small dead Christmas tree"

 

The reality was that the metre gauge CFD's station at Montereau, the usual set of double ended loops, was some way from the town's mainline station so, as with a number of French "Secondaires", the line extended as a single track that simply ended in the mainline forecourt in front of the Hotel Restaurant de la Gare- which probably accounted for the rusty café tables. There was a dual gauge spur that ran for about a kilometre to barge docks on the Seine, and that would have taken some of the CFD's bulk traffic such as grain and beet but, at the time he was writing, most of the "things" would have been interchanged with S.N.C.F. via exchange sidings in the main line goods yard.

 

That's far less entertaining than Bryan Morgan's version and it's refreshing to read a writer on railways who clearly loves them but isn't very interested in the technical or operational details!! His comments in the book on the general railway "culture" of various European countries before turning to their light railways re-appeared in the compilation volune The Railway Lover's Companion that he edited that is also one of my favourite railway books. 

[kevinlms]

It was actually the McDonnell Douglas DC10 that had the cargo door issue.

Not the one I was thinking of! I have edit my post with a link to a 747-122. It was not the first of the type, to have the same problem.

[ikks]

London Midland Fireman .... Mike Higson, a wonderful record of experiences of his time on the railway. Read and re-read over and over again.

 

Mike

[Martino]

It was actually the McDonnell Douglas DC10 that had the cargo door issue.

Yes, the 747 didn't have cargo door problems, and the L1011 as it was termed in the US and TriStar elsewhere was a very safe aircraft. The DC-10 had the door issue. I was working for THY Turkish Airlines when our DC-10 went down over Paris. The baggage loader didn't properly close the cargo door and the handle didn't lock, so he belted it with a hammer. The latch went in but bent the locking rods. All was fine until the aircraft pressurized at which point the door blew out and the floor collapsed on the the flight control cables. The worst air disaster in France.

[Old Gringo]

"Which is your favourite railway book?" 

Like Paul said a way back in post 113, I believe that's going to be very difficult to answer.

 

Depending upon the atmosphere of the day, and especially as I get older depending upon what mood I'm in, there must be a couple of dozen favourites.  All of which I will find hard to put down once the first sentence is read, or a couple of pages have been turned.  Each sentence sparks a memory, or brings an image to mind and every picture tells a story. 

 

And for all of us on the forum who are interested in books, especially those on the subject of railways, there are two other similar topics currently running in the Books section of the RMWeb Forum:

 

The first was begun by Dutch Master on 12th October 2009 and in several of the posts, which followed the original idea behind the topic, there are some wonderful titles listed.  http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/399-recommended-reading/  Edit: Apparently no longer accessible in 2019.

 

In 2010, I recommended "The Trains We Loved", by Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis, first published in 1947 by George Allen & Unwin and since reprinted many times in hardbacked and paperback versions. It's still an interesting reflection of the zenith of the steam railway in the British Isles.

 

A later topic (with almost the same title, but a different objective) was begun on 31st August 2016 by sb67.   After he had been reading a biography written by a retired railway employee, Steve asked for similar books to look out for.  http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/114451-recomended-reading/

 

I need to apologise here for my over-exuberance in supplying all the biographical titles that I have either read, or discovered, in over fifty years of railway reading.  But, I'm sure that there are still a lot more out there to add to the lists.

 

However, Jamie asks for a favourite book, or a small selection?   

 

But, can any single subject have as many titles devoted to it as the railways? 

 

General histories, World-wide histories, Period histories, Area histories, Line-specific histories, Engineering - Civil and Mechanical, Engineers, Designers, Locomotive-specific titles - several times over, Rolling Stock, Liveries, Architecture, Tunnels, Bridges, Stations, Hotels, Canals, Docks, Ships, Engine sheds, Administration, Management, Operating procedures, Signalling, Signal Boxes, Accidents, Safety procedures, Economics, Statistics, Labour, Employees, Biographies, Publicity, Posters, Art, Literature, Modelling, even 'osses have a couple of books!

 

Choose a favourite?

 

I think I'll have a look . . . "I may be some time".

 

All the best,

John.

[Nearholmer]

'Great Western Railway Telegraph Insulators' ........ I'm sure this book exists, but I've never seen a copy.

 

If anyone has a copy to dispose of, please PM, because I feel it should be on my shelf, alongside 'Lincolnshire Potato Railways', as a testament to the sheer strangeness of our hobby.

 

Kevin

[kernowtim]

One of my favorites is Railway adventure by tom rolt, an interesting & entertaining account of the early days of the preserved talyllyn railway

[jjb1970]

The Pennsylvania Railroad, Volume 1: Building an Empire, 1846-1917, by Albert Churella. Not just an outstanding railway book but an outstanding history book and an outstanding business study.

Albert Churella also wrote the best book I've read on the transition from steam to diesel too, From Steam to Diesel: Managerial Customs and Organizational Capabilities in the Twentieth-century American Locomotive Industry.

[tractionman]

'Great Western Railway Telegraph Insulators' ........ I'm sure this book exists, but I've never seen a copy.

If anyone has a copy to dispose of, please PM, because I feel it should be on my shelf, alongside 'Lincolnshire Potato Railways', as a testament to the sheer strangeness of our hobby.

Kevin

Ah, now we're talking, yes, I bought two books on railway telegraph insulators in the early days of Amazon...

 

'Searching for Railway Telegraph Insulators' was one, and 'Railway and Other Rare Insulators' was the other, both refer to Great Western insulators but I don't know of a book specifically on them!

 

'Lincolnshire Potato Railways', another top choice, last time I was in the Ian Allan bookshop in Birmingham I spotted there's now a new revised and longer edition.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[rockershovel]

In no particular order..

 

P D Whitehouse's various writings about narrow gauge railways, which sparked my interest in the subject

 

P D Hancock, Narrow Gauge Adventure

 

Stephen Ambrose, Nothing Like It In The World, about the construction of the American trans-continental railroad

[Martino]

Great Western Engine Sheds. Volume 1 London Division.

 

Red for Danger.

 

The Cheltenham Flyer. GWR Edition.

[micknich2003]

Edward Beal's 1955 tome "Modelling the Oldtime Railways", a fasinating read, and in my opinion the Rev Gents best written work.

[Pacific231G]

One of my favorites is Railway adventure by tom rolt, an interesting & entertaining account of the early days of the preserved talyllyn railway

It's interesting to also read his later book Landscape with Figures  which gives a fuller and in many ways more frank account of his experiences in being instumental in saving the TR. Without going into details there were several people he was rather more polite and restrained about in Railway Adventure than towards the end of his life when he wrote this final part of his autobiography.

The earlier parts, Landscape with Machines and Landscape with Canals are also well worth reading. 

[Nearholmer]

"Lincolnshire Potato Railways', another top choice, last time I was in the Ian Allan bookshop in Birmingham I spotted there's now a new revised and longer edition. "

 

Er, yes, I have both editions.

 

K

[laurenceb]

Midland Railway by Hamilton Ellis & Railway Adventure Tom Rolt, the two books that started my real interest in railway history. Oakwood Press books can lead you down some strange byways.

[The Johnster]

Boyd's Festiniog Railway histories (that's how it was spelt in dem days) were a delight, well researched by an author clearly passionate about his subject and engagingly written.  'The High Girders', John Prebble's account of the Tay Bridge Disaster, is another good one, perhaps a bit journalistic and definitely a classic 'greek tragedy' but the subject lends itself to that, and you can hardly blame him for failing to resist the greek chorus of William McGonnigall, the Bard of Cowrie, counterpointing it all.

 

Agree about Oakwood; mainstream they ain't!

 

I'd recommend 'The Severn Tunnel; It's Construction And Difficulties, 1872-1887' by Thomas A Walker, the engineer who took over the workings and successfully completed them, a direct and fascinating account by a man who had the ability to put technical matters over in easily digestible form.  And the reports of the Gauge Commission are riveting stuff, full of Victorian hubris and hyperbole from the early days when they didn't really know what was going on and were just making it up as they went, whatever they wanted you to think!  Some illuminating stuff in there about freight handling and containerised coal in tubs, suggestions for carrier wagons to convey narrow gauge stock over broad gauge routes (and vice versa), and a claim from Mcdonnell of the LNW, of Bloomer fame, that he could run at 100 mph easily if he had a good enough road, in the 1840s!

[Legend]

Thomas Middlemass "Mainly Scottish Steam" . A schoolboy in the 1920s and 30s living in Falkirk describes with passion and enthusiasm the workings in the area . The ex NB line through Falkirk High, the ex Caley line through Larbert , Springfield Goods, Fouldubs shed, with trips to Perth, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Carlisle. His father was a guard working the Springfield goods to Carlisle via the Waverley Line . I first read it as a library book , eventually I found a copy years ago on Douglas Blades stand at an exhibition. And the memories flooded back. Even now if lacking in inspiration or feeling a bit fed up I might read a chapter at night . The enthusiasm is infectious . When passing the sign to Canonbie on the M74 I always think of the book as his father quotes Scott I think, "there'll be a singing and dancing on Canonbie Lea"He did a video on the Glasgow to Edinburgh line in later life (sprinters ) telling the story of the line. I also have a book on Scottish 4-4-0s , bought solely because he was the author. I think the dear man must have passed on by now but I'd have loved to have met him to find out more stories of the railways and pass on my thanks .

[DugaldDalgetty]

"The District Controller's View - No. 8 - The Waverley Route" gives a real feeling for the workings of the line; and any Colin Walker photographic book.

[Theheretic]

If you mean by favourite "the railway book I most reach for, the one that lies on the floor next my bed or on top of the pile of all the other railway books "  then it's hands down for Ian Allan's "Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer", it's the book I keep referring to when I am reading all the other railway books.

 

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I am not a pom and live here downunder.

 

regards, Pierre

 

 

[bike2steam]

Although on the other hand, not a favourite as such, but the most useful while I was working on full-size (steam) locomotives was A.M.Bell's 'Locomotives'.

[Pacific231G]

If you mean by favourite "the railway book I most reach for, the one that lies on the floor next my bed or on top of the pile of all the other railway books "  then it's hands down for Ian Allan's "Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer", it's the book I keep referring to when I am reading all the other railway books.

 

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I am not a pom and live here downunder.

 

regards, Pierre

Well on that basis the book I most often reach for is the 1964 "S.N.C.F. Atlas des lignes overtes au trafic marchandises" Although there had been a Beeching scale slaughter of local passenger services on France's national network immediately after nationalisation in 1938-39 *,  in 1963 most lines were still open for goods - largely agricultural- though a lot of former cross-country branches had a gap in the middle so that they could be worked more simply as two stubs. The Atlas is very useful for identifying the many rusting lines or old stations that you still often stumble across in rural France. It's very sad though to compare it with the current RFF network maps .

 

*(This was followed by a rapid but temporary re-opening during the war and occupation and for a few years after but the immediate post-war timetables are full of notes to the effect that normal bus services will be restored a soon as possible )

[kevinlms]

'Rails in the Fells', by the late Davis Jenkinson, is an excellent read.

 

First half is about the construction of the line and its reason for its existence - a fastish through line, that mostly didn't serve its locals that well.

 

The 2nd part looks at the local traffic carried and how it very quickly disappeared. So much so, this was a common occurrence around Britain and the reason, it had several (fortunately unsuccessful) attempts at closure. While the line didn't generate large revenues locally, it actually carried a lot more through passengers, but the accountants didn't count this as revenue!

 

Groups, such as 'Friends of the Settle & Carlisle Railway', kept using this distorted information as a reason it keep it open. Plus of course, it was also useful, as a diversion route, for when things went wrong on the WCML.