RMweb Premium brushman47544 Posted November 24, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 24, 2011 I've just bought a copy of the new Ian Allan colour album of Deltic photographs, edited by Gavin Morrison. Most pictures I at least have not seen before and, with only a couple of exceptions, all are produced to the high standards we expect from these Ian Allan books. As implied by the cover title, the photographs span the full 50 years from their introduction to the present, so there are some interesting main line and preservation shots included. However, here I do think the balance is wrong - for my taste there are simply too many "preservation era" images, whereas there are only very few pictures of Deltics in green - and of these several have already been seen in print. There is then a reasonable selection in BR Blue, although some important moments are not covered - for example none of the "Silver Jubilee" and the photos of the Hull Executive are also without the headboard, which is a shame in view of that train's importance as the fastest timing at over 91mph from Kings Cross to Retford. Not that the pictures are not interesting, its just the balance which appears to be limited by the author's exclusive use of his own photos rather than using others' to fill the more important gaps. A missed opportunity, maybe, but still an interesting book nevertheless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon020 Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 This is currently being discussed on the Yahoo - class 55 group pages... and here's what I contributed there.... I'm kind of in agreement with Andrew above. I'm going to add my comment here too. When I saw this advertised, purchase was a must. The previous IA/GM combination in this format (Heyday of the...) led me to expect a certain quality (although personally I think the Janes Rail Portfolio (3 The Deltics) just pips this. Upon receipt and first scan, I felt that the paper quality was not quiet what I'd hoped for, and I'm sure that this has impacted on the image quality... some photos are just too dark and contrasty. Some photos, yes we've seen them before; others are similar to those we've seen before - a shot taken at the same time as the previously published image ???? but in almost all of those cases, the previously published image was clearly the better one... which is why it was publsihed. Some images are not as crisp as I'd have liked either. All in all, I think this is a worthy volume to have (so I didn't return it), but the images feel like they are from nearer the bottom of the pile, rather than those that looked as though they'd be the ones most treasured. It would be great to see a definitive photographic record of the class... many get close, but there isn't a shining star amongst all the rest. Doug's comment will be worth watching... will it be the nudge that is needed? Many self-publishing means are out there now - Blurb.com looks interesting... I'm sure that the material is out there for a cream of the crop Deltic images book. [The ref to "Doug' comments" was in response to another comment: If there's one Deltic photo album I'd like to see it's a collection of Peter J Robinson's pictures.... and Doug had forwarded that comment to Peter.. we'll wait and see.] Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I bought a copy from Amazon a couple of weeks ago. To be honest, I would have liked to have seen a lot more green shots. Almost all the pictures feature Deltics in BR blue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Sounds like a missed opportunity, this. I'm guessing with green shots in the minority, there's no danger of any Waverley Route diversionary activities featuring; a shame as these must rank among the most outrageous scheduled workings of the class. Wallet will remain untroubled then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium brushman47544 Posted November 25, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted November 25, 2011 Sounds like a missed opportunity, this. I'm guessing with green shots in the minority, there's no danger of any Waverley Route diversionary activities featuring; a shame as these must rank among the most outrageous scheduled workings of the class. Wallet will remain untroubled then. Indeed. But guess what, the well used photo of Pinza on the Waverley route farewell special is in there... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Oh dear. It's the Waverley's very own petticoat tail/ Sunday Post combo, that blessed picture of the Ghoulex. Not wishing to sound dismissive, but if it's a GM phot I'd wager it was the one and only time he used the line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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