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Book
Reviews
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CASTLEMAN'S CORKSCREW Volume 2
The Twentieth Century and Beyond
by B L Jackson
320pages Softback ISBN
978-0-85361-686 3. £19.95. |
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The
first volume of this book, reviewed in issue No 123 of this journal, ran to
272 I. pages, so the total pages devoted to the subject now number nearly
six hundred - more than ample, you might think, for a railway which served
mainly rural outposts such as West Moors, Wimbome, Wareham and Wool.
However, read the
books' sub-title
-"Including the railways of Bournemouth and Associated Lines" and you have
the explanation. When Charles Castleman, a local solicitor, dreamed up his
Southampton and Dorchester Railway in. the mid-1840s, no one much had heard
of Bournemouth, but it was that resort's rapid growth in the latter half of
the 19th century which dictated the later expansion of all railways in the
area, and ultimately overshadowed Castleman's original vision.
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Having described the
line's origins in Volume One, Jackson brings us up to date with descriptions
of nationalisation, electrification and more - in impressive detail. To
emphasise the historical context of his subject, he even goes to Wool
station on 1 June 2007, to photograph a class 444 'Desiro' electric leaving
for Waterloo exactly 160 years after the opening of the original line. .
Chapters are devoted, inter alia, to World War II and its aftermath,
electrification (first to Bournemouth, later Weymouth), the evolution of
signalling, and the line's architecture and infrastructure. There's even
some information (and rare pictures) about the short-lived Bovington Camp
line, opened in 1919, just too late to be involved in the First World War,
closed nine years later and tom up in 1936.
Oakwood Press, in whose
series The Oakwood Library of Railway History this new book is No l44B, has
certainly provided plenty of reading matter for devotees of the railways of
south Dorset. The first edition of Roger Kidner's The Railways of
Purbeck,which appeared in 1973; was a modest book of 48 pages, but the
third edition (2000) has 96. Then there's Colin Stone's Rails to Poole
Harbour, which between its first (1999) and second (2007) editions
expanded from 144 to 208 pages. Slightly further a field, there's an Oakwood
book on the Bridport Railway, and a trio of volumes about the Railways of
Portland, in all of which B L Jackson is involved as author. Now I
understand that Jackson is turning his attention to the Swanage Railway, a
pretty and now preserved branch line which has already spawned a number of
histories. As a one time resident of Wareham, I await its publication with
interest.
Brian Knowlman |
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Courtesy
National Railway Museum Review - No 126 Winter 2008/2009 |
HARROW & WEALDSTONE 50
YEARS ON
by Peter Tatlow
128pages Softback ISBN
978-0-85361-680 1. £9.95. |
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As a young
lad in the late 1950s I used to visit my grandparents' home near North
Harrow. A short walk brought me to a footbridge over the West Coast Main
Line just north of Headstone Lane station. Here I did my train-spotting
becoming acquainted for the first time with Duchess Pacifics and what were
other strange delights for a boy living in Derbyshire. To the south the Up
Fast and Up Slow line distant signals gave a useful warning of approaching
trains usually a minute or so before they appeared through the road bridge
at Hatch End over half a mile to the north. Only many years later did I come
to realise that one of these signals was pivotal in the story of the Harrow
& Wealdstone train crash, as it was this signal that Driver Jones on the
late-running Up Perth sleeper tragically failed to heed. |
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This is an updated
version of a book first published in 2002 (Review No 102) containing
additional information supplied to the author, and a slightly amended
portfolio of photographs. There is little more that needs adding to the
earlier review. Interest in major railway accidents remains high both
because of the drama of the events themselves, and the impact they have on
railway safety procedures. The accident at Harrow was, and thankfully
remains, the worst peace time railway disaster in terms of casualties. And
yet, at a time when death and tragedy during the then recent Second World
War had become all too commonplace, the public and media reaction seems
remarkably muted by today's standards - but then this was many years before
the 24 hour rolling news phenomenon we have to endure today. Thus trains
were running past the accident site within a few hours even though the
recovery work was still taking place, in sharp contrast with the practice
today where any significant incident leads to line closure for days
if not weeks.
If anything, the book's
matter of fact style adds extra poignancy to the individual tragedies
created by the accident, many to railway families, since a large number of
the casualties in the local train where staff from the railway headquarters
offices at Euston. Several of these stories are related in the book, but one
is struck by the determined and committed manner which all those involved
got on with the job of recovery without fuss and without drama. We get some
small insight into how some of those caught up in this work were affected,
for the rest one can only imagine.
This is a remarkable
account that can be recommended without hesitation. Indeed my only critical
comment is actually a positive. The sub-title 'Clearing up the Aftermath' in
my view undersells the book, since it is much more than this including as it
does an account of the circumstances leading up to the accident itself.
The ramifications of
Harrow & Wealdstone were considerable. This is a valuable record and
analysis for those interested in such matters.
Philip Benham |
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Courtesy
National Railway Museum Review - No 126 Winter 2008/2009 |
OVER THE ALPS on the Watercress Line
by John Richardson
144pages Softback ISBN
978-0-85361-683 2. £11.95. |
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I
imagine we've all read books by former footplatemen about what life was like
on the steam railway. This book is similar but different: John Richardson is
a man of the current generation who decided I that he wanted to drive a
steam engine; the book is his story.
As a marine engineer,
Richardson had a good basis to start his life as a volunteer on the
Mid-Hants Railway, but he rapidly disabuses us of the notion that merely
knowing about engineering is of much help when faced with the elemental
tasks of ensuring that a steam locomotive can perform the duties expected of
it - and its crew. His account of progress through the Mid-Hants 'links' is
engaging and immediate. His writing has the skill to present the reader with
the feeling that you are there on the footplate alongside him.
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A major plus is that as
he progresses through the tests and tasks that are required of footplate
crews, he takes the trouble to explain the 'whys and wherefores' of train
equipment such as the historical background to the development of the
continuous vacuum brake (principally the Armagh disaster) and the fact that
human carelessness can defeat the absolute block system - witness the
Abermule accident. This is done in a cogent style that the non- technical
can easily understand.
Of course, there is the
personal background to learning how to fire and drive steam locomotives on a
very testing railway - for men and machines. There are virtually no flat
stretches on the Mid-Hants, so it's either hoping that there is enough steam
to get up the hill (without slipping or blowing off) or avoiding braking too
hard and stopping short. All this is told against the background of the very
mixed diet of locomotives based on, or visiting, the railway and on which
Richardson gives some personal views of their strengths and weaknesses. .
For most of us, the
chance to fire or drive a steam locomotive comes only by parting with a
considerable sum of money on an 'experience' day. But this book gives a
first rate and very readable introduction to the life of the modem steam
footplateman on one of our preserved railways. Highly recommended.
Ian Harrison |
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Courtesy
National Railway Museum Review - No 126 Winter 2008/2009 |
RAILS TO NEWQUAY - Railways, Tramways, Town,
Transport
by John Vaughan
288pp.
A5. Softback, coloured covers with black & white illustrations. ISBN
978-0-85361-677-1. £16.95. |
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The town of Newquay grew
from a very small village at the turn of the 19th century to a popular
holiday resort today, famous for its surfing. (As this reviewer's article
'Atlantic Cost Express - 2008' in this 'Journal', pages
24-26 has pointed out). It is still served by rail, even if this is
only a limited service on the 20-mile branch from Par on the Cornwall main
line.
John Vaughan's book
however, goes further than a history of this single branch. It begins with a
history of the town of Newquay and its harbour, the local industries, all of
which have now declined with the exception of tourism and a general survey
of transport links to the town - sea, road, air and rail. Only then on page
63 do we start with the railway history and the horse-drawn tramways built
by the land and mining entrepreneur, Joseph Thomas Treffry to transport
minerals to the harbours at Newquay and Par. |
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These tramways later
formed part of the Cornwall Minerals Railway, a standard 4ft 8½in gauge
line, which extended across the county from Fowey in the south to Newquay in
the north. The line opened for goods in 1874 and passengers in 1876,
initially worked by steam locomotives ordered from Sharp Stewart. The
extension to the harbour at Newquay was on a gradient of 1 in 4 through
tunnel with limited headroom and this was worked by horses. until traffic
dwindled to nothing and It was formally closed in 1926. Loss of revenue and
a fall in mineral traffic caused the GWR to work the line from 1877. Through
traffic from the rest of the system was not possible until the final
conversion of the broad gauge in 1892. The entire CMR system was eventually
purchased by the GWR in 1896 and a chapter covers the improvements carried
out under their ownership including the development of holiday traffic. The
following chapter continues the story of the line under British Railways and
Privatisation up to the present day.
We are still only half
way through the book and the subsequent chapters detail the history and
development of each section of the lines to Newquay which, as well as the
existing line from Par, include the line from Fowey to St Blazey (now a road
exclusively for china clay lorries), Par Harbour, various mineral branches,
and the line from Chacewater via Perranporth opened by the GWR between 1903
and 1905. The text is supplemented by many photographs ranging from early
views of Newquay including what is supposedly a passenger train taken on 29
June 1876 to present day scenes. There are maps, a gradient profile and a
useful index.
The author has tackled
his subject with enthusiasm to produce a detailed work at a modest price.
Bruce I Nathan
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SLS Journal
Jan/Feb 2009 |
TORTILLARDS OF
ARTOIS - The Metre Gauge Railways and Tramways of the Western
Pas-de-Calais by Martin & Joan Farebrother
336pp.
A5. Softback, coloured covers with black & white illustrations. ISBN
978-0-85361-679-5. £19.95. |
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A tortillard is
French argot for a narrow gauge railway, probably from tortiller,
to twist. This is one of the many revelations in this excellent book which
could stand as a model of how to do it. For example, it has clear maps at
the start of each section; it helps the reader with glossaries, conversion
tables and a detailed index. Like all sound histories, it knows how to
relate primary and secondary sources, and it sets its narrative in context
- not too heavily, but enough to assist the reader in getting the hang of
a railway culture, history and geography, and even jargon, very different
from that of, say, Kent - only some 21 miles away.
Although the authors
state that writing this chronicle was 'fun', be not deceived, for it is
the fruit of long and deep research. It is in a different and far
superior league to those dread albums of steam three-quarter shots, or
long-winded reminiscences. |
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The subject matter is
the network of local metre-gauge lines (with a few 60cm exceptions), at
various times steam, electric or diesel powered, that filled gaps left by
the Nord system in the Calais-Boulogne area and its hinterland. Some were
fully-fledged railways with their own rights of way, others a species of
interurban tramway. Their corporate histories, routes, motive power and
rolling stock are covered thoroughly.
The area in question
suffered two massive historical discontinuities, WWI and WW2, and these,
in their way, disrupt the narrative. The Great War found the British
constructing a system of their own, well described by the authors. But,
breaking the narrative at 1914 and 1939 has prevented them from carrying
the story of each line through from start to finish, unbroken.
In practice, the
logical organisation of the book and the thorough index guide a reader
through this unavoidable labyrinth. An abundance of illustrations .serves
the text, as do numerous, painstaking tables. Locomotivologists will have
a fine time studying motive power that included products of SACM, Corpet,
SLM Winterthur (two unusual 2-10-0Ts and Renault.
Anyone wishing to see
what remains of these yanished systems is supplied with a useful and
up-to-date guide. Tortillards is remarkably good value, a tribute
to painstaking and animated scholarship.
R.A.S. Hennessey
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SLS
Journal Jan/Feb 2009
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I want to let you know how
impressed l am with this book.
I take an interest in all
things historical (having been a history teacher and author) but I am not
a particular transport enthusiast. I bought the book - having come across
it by chance on the web. The book is far better than I had expected and I
found it quite exciting! Plus the fact that this is in English as my
French is rubbish and therefore I miss out on all kinds of other
interesting books.
I am most impressed with the
research and scholarship and the amazing amount of detail that has
resulted. Research is enormous fun but can be very time-consuming.
These railways obviously played an important part in everyday life and
this book really brings them back to life. The inclusion of timetables and
photos past and present are really fascinating. Obviously a great deal of
work and passion has gone into this book. I'm sure the authors enjoyed
writing it but at the same time it must have been quite daunting. I don't
know how many words there are but there are a lot!
Inclusion of the walks and the
photographs are great. I have so far only managed limited exploration at
Rang de Fliers but we did go and seek out the abri at Renty and the old
station at Merlimont that we had otherwise not recognised. We certainly
plan to look more closely around Montreul.
Well done. Fantastic job. I
will certainly show it to other Brits that I know have an interest in the
Pas de Calais.
Nigel Smith |
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