Jump to content
 

Diesels in the Landscape


valleymodeller

Recommended Posts

I picked up a copy of this new book yesterday in WH Smith's. A nice 80 page soft back publication of full colour photos dating from the 60/70s green/blue era from around Britain. I was particularly interested in quite a lot of shots taken in South Wales, and one on page 22 of Pontypridd station, taken in 1970 which has my parents' house in the background (long since demolished). Lots of dmu photos though but all in interesting locations of mostly long gone locations. Not bad for #9.99.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Found it myself yesterday the author is Paul Anderson. 80 pages of time warp, wonder after wonder showing not just the traction but the environment of the time, utterly wonderful for any modeller looking from the late 60s onward. So often you get big glossy books that are cropped to just show a loco, well not with this and it's all the better. I'm old enough to remember it all and these shots brought flooding back scenes I'd totally forgotten, the people, the cars, the roads and the rolling stock that is also included.

No filler shots in this, all are wonderful all show detail hard to get, few of the loco or dmu car numbers are noted, it dosnt matter, it's the detail that counts. Best shot ? Hard to say, but the platform scene from a departing train of the empty vans with their doors open in the bay and a member of staff in his brand new BR uniform at Alloa walking past the flowerbed a few days before closure in 68 to my mind is worth a tenner on its own. Lincoln and Firsby, Richmond and Leicester Central all come back to life.

This book is full of atmosphere, and a modellers delight, if you have to buy one book this summer buy this one.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I picked up a copy of this new book yesterday in WH Smith's. A nice 80 page soft back publication of full colour photos dating from the 60/70s green/blue era from around Britain. I was particularly interested in quite a lot of shots taken in South Wales, and one on page 22 of Pontypridd station, taken in 1970 which has my parents' house in the background (long since demolished). Lots of dmu photos though but all in interesting locations of mostly long gone locations. Not bad for #9.99.

 

Tony,

 

I looked long and hard to work out which was your old house, it was fruitless as I couldn't see the 'blue plaque'

.

Brian R

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello

 

   Agree with all that has been said. It is a brilliant little book. Well worth a trip down memory lane with some truly inspirational modelling ideas.

 

 

                                                                                                Cheers

 

                                                                                                            George

Link to post
Share on other sites

Sounds really worth a look. Couldn't find it in our local (smallish) Smiths today. Will try a bigger branch asap. Can anyone advise please - is it a bookazine kept with the railway mags?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello

 

   I bought mine direct from Irwell Press. Definitely a book albeit a thinnish one with a soft cover..

 

                                                                            Cheers

 

                                                                                      George

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Couldn't find it in my local either...

Phill, like me, you might have to consider ordering direct from Irwell....

 

https://www.irwellpress.com/acatalog/BOOKAZINE.html

 

 

I'm not sure if it's free postage & packing, but it certainly looks like a worthy addition to the bookcase.

 

 

Regards

 

Dan

Link to post
Share on other sites

Sounds really worth a look. Couldn't find it in our local (smallish) Smiths today. Will try a bigger branch asap. Can anyone advise please - is it a bookazine kept with the railway mags?

Yes it's a bookazine and it's with the monthly mags, Well it was in my local smallish Smiths. Irwell have done a few lately but to me this is the best by far.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Bought my copy today, initial reaction is subdued at best. Too many pictures are blurred and content is generally bland. Positives have been documented in this thread, on balance I am glad to have this but feel disappointed given previous bullish comments

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

Couldn't find it my local Smiths (it's a fairly small branch), so ordered it direct from Irwell (£12.49 including postage).

 

https://www.irwellpress.com/acatalog/BOOKAZINE.html

 

Placed order Wednesday and it arrived this morning, so pretty pleased about that.

 

Anyway, I just had a quick flick through it and am very impressed with the content. There are some lovely shots of Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage stations, which was a real wallow in nostalgia for me because as a child, I was fortunate enough to travel over the Swanage branch before BR closed it (wish I'd owned a camera back then...).

 

All regions are covered, so naturally, there are some shots of my favoured Western Region, but whether or not the countryside and locations are familiar to me, there's lots of lovely steam age infrastructure to be seen and plenty of totems & enamel signs to drool over!

 

I like the fact that the trains are not the main focus of attention (hence the title I suppose?), so the fashions and vehicles of the day are much in evidence too. Yes, there are one or two shots where the trains are blurred, but in the context of the book, it doesn't bother me - it's £9.99 very well spent in my opinion!

 

 

Regards

 

Dan

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Bought my copy today, initial reaction is subdued at best. Too many pictures are blurred and content is generally bland. Positives have been documented in this thread, on balance I am glad to have this but feel disappointed given previous bullish comments

I agree. Whilst the book is worth having it is still rather poor in places with some photos not really fit for publication and some wayward captions too.

 

I could not find it in WHS - I looked in several branches including Holborn Circus, which is hardly an obscure location, to no avail so I ordered one from the publishers.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...