The LNER Encyclopedia

Dear All,

Sorry if this is elsewhere in the forums, but i am looking for some books that would give me an introduction to the history and stock of LNER? Just a beginner and the number of books are overwhelming!! Thanks in anticipation.

This is a good comprehensive overview with decent pictures. This book by Geoffrey Hughes is also very good.

The three volume Michael Bonavia history might be a bit detailed for a beginner but is also worth a read.

Once you've got through those you might have more focus to decide where to concentrate next.

I started with the Bonavia book(s).It is readily available on the secondhand market, but the thing I like about it is the insider view.

The best all round book is definitely that written by Dr Geoffrey Hughes, being history, statistics, and the dispelling of many myths concerning personalities as well as locomotives and rolling stock, services and operations - LNER, Malaga (an Ian Allan imprint), 1986.

For those also interested in the history, including the constituent companies, but with a bias towards locomotives and their performance try Cecil J Allen's The London & North Eastern Railway, Ian Allan, 1966. More recent and lacking slightly in one or two places is David Wragg's LNER Handbook, Haynes Publishing 2011. This last is sometimes available at remaindered prices with some searching around. It has the benefit of being able to draw on more recent and accurate accounts and offers a very reasonable introduction to all topic areas.

Michael Bonavia's 3 volume history is more likely to interest students of transport history. Whitehouse & St John Thomas' LNER 150 provides many interesting vignettes but not a history, whilst Michael Blakemore's LNER in Transition, Pendragon, 2004 offers an insight, as the title suggests, of the period covering private to public ownership and the challenges of post-war recovery.

David Adair's Modeller's Guide to the LNER was perfect for its time but the modelling world has moved to infinity and beyond by comparison. It does however contain some useful factual nuggets not readily sourced elsewhere.

You do not have to purchase copies; if you are a member of your local public library (if not closed down yet) then you can request any title from reserve stock or on inter-library loan. A reasonable but small charge is usually made for this service.

A reasonable but small charge is usually made

Unless you happen to live in Redcar and Cleveland where I stopped using the service when the charge went over £6.

jwealleans wrote:

A reasonable but small charge is usually made

Unless you happen to live in Redcar and Cleveland where I stopped using the service when the charge went over £6.

Wow, the last one I was charged for in Wakefield was £3.25 but the last couple that I have requested they bought a copy for the library so I got it for nothing. I have a request in at the moment for LNWR wagons Volume 2 and I hope they buy that one too

jwealleans wrote:

A reasonable but small charge is usually made

Unless you happen to live in Redcar and Cleveland where I stopped using the service when the charge went over £6.

From them that hath shall be taken, or from each according to his means?

More like 'thou shalt discourage the users, yea, even unto closure. For verily the library is not in Redcar and therefore it is an abomination in the eyes of the Council'.

But we're getting far too close to politics here.

I've just looked on the Norfolk Libraries website to check out the current charges, since I've not reserved anything for a while. An 'internal' request costs 60p, but an inter-library loan at £6.50 is substantially more than it was last time I made one. So being on the border I checked out Suffolk Libraries too, which service is now provided to the County Council by an independent company with charitable status. They do not make a charge for internal reservations but an inter-library/British Library loan through them is £5.40, which is stated as the charge made to them.

For harder to locate and rarer publications I guess that circa £6 is not expensive when you consider the cost of administering the request, locating and shipping the item, booking it out and back in, and return shipping and checking condition and replacing in stock.

Let's hope 'your' library is good on acquiring railway-related books then.

There is already a list on this website -

http://www.lner.info/refs/books.shtml

I would add CJ Allens London & North Eastern Railway to the list, like Michael Bonavia, he was an LNER employee.

David Wragg's handbook is OK but contains some bloomers.

Thank You to those that replied, some ordered already! I did look at the list on the bibliography but members may have favourites that aren't on the list as an introduction rather than weighty tomes that will be beyond me!! I'm interested in the Yorkshire Region predominantly but its always handy to have a general overview of the LNER in its entirety. This site is an amazing piece of work in its own right! Thanks again and if there are any other books that are "must haves" please let me know. Gary

Solario wrote:There is already a list on this website -

http://www.lner.info/refs/books.shtml

I would add CJ Allens London & North Eastern Railway to the list, like Michael Bonavia, he was an LNER employee.

David Wragg's handbook is OK but contains some bloomers.

I recommended CJA earlier in my reply to the OP and also noted that David Wragg's book was lacking in places. However it's not until you get into things in greater depth and apply some curiosity that you realise that there can be various different views of events or opinions of individuals. The same with that reading list, it's one person's take on the literature.

I don't have nearly as many railway books as most of you blokes, but on the whole I find them to be quite poorly written - almost as if they are aimed at grown-up trainspotters. They tend not to go in too much analysis of events or cover the 'business side', which is of particular interest to me.

I have Bonavia's History of the LNER and think it is quite superficial - you can easily knock over all three parts in a night or two, which is disappointing as he was an LNER employee and must have had access to a vast amount of information. His book on the first twenty-five years of BR is much better.

Pyewipe Junction wrote:I don't have nearly as many railway books as most of you blokes, but on the whole I find them to be quite poorly written - almost as if they are aimed at grown-up trainspotters. They tend not to go in too much analysis of events or cover the 'business side', which is of particular interest to me.

Which is exactly why I recommended Dr Geoffrey Hughes 'LNER' book first - he is a master of the subject, thoroughly researched and double-checked with those who were participants, clarifies a number of hitherto confused matters and covers everything to an acceptable depth with appendices of useful facts and figures. If you have not read it yet then you are really missing out... next would be CJ Allen's history.

Many thanks for the recommendation.

I got a copy for US$7.21 posted on AbeBooks. Bargain!