Cock o' the North - Book

[GeoffBird]

I see there is a new book out about Cock o' the North by Peter Tuffrey (Fonthill Media). Has anyone read it and got any comments or seen a review of the book? Is it a good buy - 25 quid for the history of one loco?

[65447]

Peter Tuffrey should know his subject, but Fonthill Media as a publisher receives very mixed reviews. I should hold fire until an actual copy can be examined, not just perused. Out of curiosity, is there any tie-in with the new locomotive build???

[GeoffBird]

Having had a look on various Websites, it seems that it contains a lot of background informnation about HNG and his loco development up to No. 2001, also details of the ACFI feedwater heater and the poppet valave gear. Also covered are details of the other 5 at work in Scotland, the rebuilding by ET and the subsequent work of the whole of the A2 class up to withdrawal. There seems to be no reference to the current new built project. On their Website, Fonthill have it reduce to 22.50 quid.

[wlkr]

Please do not take this as a "finger wagging" 65547, but "peruse" actually means to read and examine thoroughly. Regards. wlkr.

[65447]

Please do not take this as a "finger wagging" 65547, but "peruse" actually means to read and examine thoroughly. Regards. wlkr.

My OED says 'read carefully', not at all to the same depth as examine, let alone 'examine thoroughly'... which is probably a tautology.

Oh and please do take care to transcribe my handle correctly!

[wlkr]

I do apologise 65447 for the incorrect "handle", that was unintentional. As for "peruse" itself I lifted the meaning directly from the online dictionary for that post and there is a difference to the OED's more precise definition. Not an oceans width but sufficient to be misleading. Once again my apologies, my mistake. Many years ago whilst at school we were harangued by our English teacher for a good fifteen minutes because we all considered that "perusal" meant a cursory glance at a piece of work that would tell us all we needed to know to complete our task. He certainly made his point known in no uncertain terms and it's something that one tends not to forget. In the future I will pay more attention to updates. So,happily, I can now assure you that the wrist is suitably stinging. Regards.

[notrom]

Amazon have a 'Look Inside' feature on this book. unfortunately the excerpts cover little on the actual loco and class but describe Gresley's career and designs pre-P2 as well as scetions on Lentz rotary valve gear and feed water heaters. I'm no technical expert but what I read was clear and fascinating.

[peterbunce]

Hi,

I have the (Kindle)book and the title is somewhat misleading - the first Chapter (of 3) covers all of H N Gresley's locomotives starting in 1912, moving through the LNER designs and including the Pacif9ics and the (goods ) 2 8 0 and 2 8 2's. The second chapter starts to involve the P2's and Cock of the North. and the final chapter covers the re-building of them, from 1941 and their demise.

I like the book; in the end there is more re the P2's but a long preamble to get there.

Yours Peter Bunce

[ahardy]

I agree with the above. The book does have a lot of preamble. Although it contains lots of images they do t seem to be reproduced well either. There is much more to the P2 story which is missing but it's a good starting point. No obvious link with either loco project.

As for another book l, watch this space as I believe there is something in the pipeline.

[S.A.C. Martin]

No axe to grind here but it's reminded me of something I meant to say a while back.

The book's quite non committal on the class' rebuilding by Thompson, moreso than other authors, but for me there was a real chance to do something different here and analyse why exactly the P2s didn't work as Gresley had intended - and the book missed that opportunity entirely. I understand a new title coming out will cover this in much more detail and probably go into the reasoning behind the design choices in more depth too.