The most influential railway book I ever read was "The Somerset and Dorset - An English Cross-Country Railway" by Ivo Peters. I borrowed it from the library because I'd never seen an S&D 7F before and there was one on the cover! It started an obsession that has only recently borne fruit in terms of modelling. I was about 8 years old at the time!
Sadly my copy of this doesn't have the dust jacket.
If I ain't here, I'm in Bilston, scoffing decent chips at last!!!!
strang steel wrote:Yes Micky, I bought the paperback version many years ago (and still have that) but was disappointed to find it didn't have the big fold out maps.
The original 1969 hardback edition is not difficult to find in decent condition by the looks of it, but I don't know if the 1985 reprint included the maps or not.
I've got the 1969 edition. Maps - yes. Foldouts - no. Are we sure this book ever had foldouts?
Kudu
I could be mistaken I suppose, but if it wasn't that book then there must have been another with fold-out trackplans.
I wonder which other one it could have been, in that case?
A favourite of mine is London's Local Railways by Alan A. Jackson. Covering all regions, it really gets into the nooks and crannies of the capital's lines. Very well researched and presented in a very readable form with about 250 photos and maps. Gracing the cover is N7 69665 having just arrived at Enfield.
Rob237 and myself both share a liking for Steam Days at Haymarket, I have read it cover to cover at least 5 times and its often found lying in the Bathroom/WC for further reading beats having the Sun in there anyway.
Hi interested in the area served by 52D. also researching colliery wagonways from same area.
I'm not really one for favourites, but if someone insisted, it would probably be Railway Adventure by Tom Rolt. I have one of the early David & Charles paperbacks and always enjoy it. Somehow the older copies have an atmosphere the newer reprints don't have.
52D wrote:Rob237 and myself both share a liking for Steam Days at Haymarket, I have read it cover to cover at least 5 times and its often found lying in the Bathroom/WC for further reading beats having the Sun in there anyway.
Thirded..... A very well written and absorbing book.
From foreign parts, one of the best written railway books I have read was 'Gone With Regret' by George Behrend. It captures all that was wonderful about the GWR - which I admired almost as much as the LNER!
