Western Branches, Western Byways

[The Stationmaster]

I found this one at Didcot GWS yesterday and the title says it all - full colour throughout (but see below) and covering the period between the late 1950s and the early/mid 1960s when so many of these sort of lines & services vanished.  The cover blurb claims that the photos are 'previously unseen' and I've certainly not seen any of them before and the geographical coverage is pretty good although comparatively few for South Wales considering just how much railway there was there.

 

So those are the good points and the book is probably worth its £20 cover price for all that variety but there is a catch - and the hint comes with the cover price which struck me as pretty good for a work of this nature.  It is printed in Bulgaria  and the pre-processing that has (not) gone into dealing with old colour stock suggests that country might be on the same sort of learning curve with to albums as Roumanaia was with loco building when they took on the Class 56 for BR.  The paper quality feels good, the colour rendition is also good but many of the pics - including the cover - look rather 'muddy. while some others have the sort of contrast problems typical of the age in which they were taken but nothing done with modern processes to sort out such difficulties - so overall there is something of a curate's egg quality to the whole thing.

 

Captions are generally good although I suspect one or two minor inaccuracies and there is a misleading error under the excellent view of the 'Marlow Donkey' on page 5 where the caption states that the engine, taking water, could not have been involved in shunting wagons as it is attached to its trailer - sorry Mr McCormack but auto engines were allowed to shunt with the trailer attached, and published photos exist to illustrate that it was not only permitted but actually took place.

 

But where it's good it is very good and almost all the views show something of useful railway interest from that era so ideal for modellers of this part of the BR network in that period.

[chrisf]

I discovered over 20 years ago just how few colour pics were taken in South Wales. Thank goodness for the likes of Alan Jarvis, Trevor Owen and John Wiltshire for capturing the images that we do have! I have yet to see a colour shot of a standard 3MT tank on a Valleys passenger, for instance.

 

Somehow I feel a shelf-space crisis approaching ...

 

Chris

[Captain Kernow]

Had a quick look at a copy in a local shop the other day, looks good, but colour reproduction is definitely not as good as the Capital Transport books by Michael Welch, which seem to have more pages and cost a couple of quid less. Still, if the views are comparatively rare, it will probably find it's way onto my bookshelf as well. Hopefully not as disappointing as a larger Strathwood volume that I bought at a discount a couple of weeks ago, where the photos are not as sharp as I'd like for that kind of money...

[The Stationmaster]

Had a quick look at a copy in a local shop the other day, looks good, but colour reproduction is definitely not as good as the Capital Transport books by Michael Welch, which seem to have more pages and cost a couple of quid less. Still, if the views are comparatively rare, it will probably find it's way onto my bookshelf as well. Hopefully not as disappointing as a larger Strathwood volume that I bought at a discount a couple of weeks ago, where the photos are not as sharp as I'd like for that kind of money...

Generally the sharpness is good - as long as the originals were sharp and one or two clearly weren't all that good (but only one or two in my view).

 

For Chris's information Sth Wales coverage is as follows -

Train arriving at Lavernock, good view of the 'box, reasonable of train but some shadow

Good view and excellent colour of the station building at Rhoos (up side) although at an angle - taken from a train

Nice quality view of a very clean 1471 + trailer in the Up side bay at Llantrisant

1471 (in black this time) on a crankex at Cowbridge in 1957

6419 and short train in the platform at Portcawl

Running in board up main platform Bridgend

57XX + train at Nantymoel, nice view for the surroundings but a bit contrasty for loco detail (If I see theh photographer at our 'old boys Christmas Dinner I'll ask him if the reproduction is correct)

Nice view of an 8750 arriving at Abergynfi (sic)

Clean 56XX on an Up passenger train leaving Taffs Well

View from the brakevan of the dolomite trip at the south end of Walnut Tree viaduct, then

View of a 94XX shunting the dolomite trip outside the works.

Smashing view of 5206 on an Up train of empties at Aberbeeg.

Front three quarter view of a dmu at Blaenavon Low Level

Very murky view of a 56XX passing Quakers Yard LL

Not quite so murky view of a 61Xx on an Up train at Quakers Yard HL

Mukyish view of 4157 arriving at Treharris on a Down train

Fair view of a 56XX arriving Nelson & Llancaiach on an Up Dowlais Cae Harris train.

7222 passing Penrhiwceiber

6 views, various places and trains in West Wales

[robertcwp]

I had a look at this book and thought the photo reproduction was poor, as it was in the recent book on the Great Eastern.  Ian Allan closed their printing side recently to cut costs and quality is clearly suffering as a result.

[southern42]

Thanks, Mike. On my to do list.

 

Polly

[chrisf]

I now have a copy of the book.  At first glance it looks like a Capital Transport production but isn't.  The colour reproduction could be better, coujldn't it always, but is a distinct improvement on that in some of the Silverlink "Past and Present" series.

 

Three names dominate the list of credits.  Alan Sainty has a massive collection of slides and continuing ambitions to make it more so.  It has been said of him that he wiould like a slide of every GW pannier and from our brief acquaintance it would not surprise me! Charles Firminger has been Chairman and Bulletin Editor of the LCGB but unjustifiably not a widely published photographer and it is good to see some of his work in print.  R W A (Bob) Jones was Rector of Llandow for many years and has a wide-ranging interest in transport subjects.  Little of his colour wotk has appeared in print hitherto.  His images are also credited to "Online Transport Archive".  Googling this reveals that one of its directors is Peter Waller of Ian Allan Publishing, who might be ultimately responsible for some of the silly mistakes that appear in print from that source - such as the chunk of text missing from "Dr Beeching's Remedy".

 

One silly mistake leapt off the page at me.  The caption for the picture of a dmu at Blaenavon LL on page 71 aserts that the introduction of dmus on Welsh Valley Lines commenced on 13 January 1958.  While this is true of the Cardiff Valleys, and was got wrong in another Ian Allan book, it is not correct for the Eastern and Western Valleys north of Newport, where dmu operation commenced in November 1957.  I learned this from a magazine published at the time by - erm - Ian Allan.  Page 71 does seem to have been printed too darkly as the dmu is a funny shade of green.  It is also a shame that Abergwynfi is spelled incorrectly but the nicieties of Welsh spelling would tax a Mastermind contestant.

 

Happy Hippo of this parish will be interested in the two shots on page 67 of the Walnut Tree West "branch" freight.  There is much to interest others too: an auto trailer still in blood and custard in July 1957, a BR standard suburban still sporting unlined crimson in July 1962 and, most bizarre of all, a pannier on filve LMS design non-corridors at New Brighton!

 

Not bad for £20.

 

Chris

[southern42]

My copy arrived just before we went off to stay in Kirkby Stephen Platform Cottage - it made for some excellent reading in between watching the trains go past.

 

Southall mentioned on the first page - that put me in very good mood. Favourite shots - the Carmine and Cream "Flying Bananas".  Superb.  I want one! Or two.... for my branchline....

Dear Santa....

 

Thanks, again, Mike for bringing the book to our attention.

 

Polly

[Strathwood]

Had a quick look at a copy in a local shop the other day, looks good, but colour reproduction is definitely not as good as the Capital Transport books by Michael Welch, which seem to have more pages and cost a couple of quid less. Still, if the views are comparatively rare, it will probably find it's way onto my bookshelf as well. Hopefully not as disappointing as a larger Strathwood volume that I bought at a discount a couple of weeks ago, where the photos are not as sharp as I'd like for that kind of money...

To put you straight on quality of the pictures in the Strathwood books, I use the best of what was made available for these reasons:

 

1, A huge number of photographers will not let their shots out to be scanned for publishing.

 

2. Cameras, film speeds and photographer's ability was back in the 1950s and 1960s not what they are today, thanks to technology and education in photographic techniques.

 

3. If you want the images looking as sharp as possible it would mean reproducing so many images far smaller on the page and therefore needing far more images to fill a book which are just not always available. Also it means that those of us with older eyes and glasses which is most likely the majority cannot see the image so well without a magnifying glass.

 

4. Therefore these smaller images are rubbish for modelling purposes.

 

5. RM web and magazines are full of folk who know far more about every topic you care to write about than any author can ever be, as all critics have their pet subjects to which they know it all and are always happy to profess such! If a publisher asks many of these sages for information they reply either they are too busy or it will cost the publisher a fee akin to a Premiership Footballer's wages...

 

6. Everyone seems to think that we make fortunes from doing this. Evidence suggests that even the once mighty Ian Allan have been forced to close their print works and reduce titles in production as we are selling to a dying market.

 

7. The realities of life are that as a business it just about works if we cut our costs as much as we can, but some folk still think that we should be selling books on their pet subject at a price that is wholly unrealistic.

 

8. Wake up to the facts that the price of oil has hit the cost of paper very hard in the last couple of years as to make paper requires a lot of energy to produce and ship it. Postage and packing costs have risen above inflation and publishers can either send their printing overseas which is cheaper yes, but often fraught with other problems, never mind the fact we all profess that our country has given away far too much of our manufacturing heritage to the emerging world already anyway. Well Strathwood books are proudly produced in their entirity in the United Kingdom, this comes at a cost but I have principles.

 

9. The damaging critics offered by those who would be happy to write something on the internet under a pen-name and remain otherwise annonymous are often cruel and not called for. They would never be so bold to offer such remarks to my face at a model railway show. Having stood next to one notable model railway manufacturer at a show last year whilst a "customer" bent his ear in a very rude way over this and that, I was amazed the customer did not need the attentions of a good surgeon to remove the said model from where I would have put it.

 

10. Yes criticism is to be expected otherwise how would the interests of the customer be progressed. But remember that all small producers of model railway items, books, DVDs etc have almost certainly given it their best shot to get the thing to the market. With many of these items being offered at a price to purely try and cover costs and hopefully to make a modest profit as well as seeing their interests furthered to a wider audience. The real costs to produce items on a small production run would frighten any real businessman in the Dragon's Den and we would be laughed out of sight!

 

Finally remember these facts whilst putting your fingers to the keyboard, is that yes your comments do reach those at the top, many of which could turn it all in at a moments notice as they are at retiring age, or perhaps their health is not what it once was or can no longer be bothered to take the hassle that comes from some folk, instead they would like to spend the 60 plus hours a week they spend on working instead on their own interests and layouts and yet another manufacturer leaves the market.

 

The one thing that encourages manufacturers onwards is yes financial success but also positive comments when deserved. The glass should always be half full, not half empty.

 

Further comments are invited.

 

Kevin Derrick

 

Strathwood Publishing