johnsmachines

When I saw this title from Pen and Sword, I thought “wonderful”.  Anticipating information about the Pen-y-darren railway, for which Richard Trevithick designed the world’s first useable steam locomotive.  I will be staying at Pen-y-darren near Merthyr Tidfil, Wales,  in a few weeks.  I know that little of the coal mine railway remains, but I just want to soak up the ambience of the area.

But to my disappointment, there is no mention of Trevithick or Pen-y-darren in the book.  An astounding oversight IMO.

Otherwise, the book is excellent, although I do feel unqualified to comment about model railways.

It is hard cover, 120 pages, richly illustrated with photos, diagrams, and plans of railway locomotives, carriages, tracks, signals, uniforms, tunnels, stations etc etc from 1830-1880.

The chapters are:   Introduction (which should not be skipped) 1. Mike Sharman – pioneer modeller of early railways, 2. Infrastructure, 3. Locomotives 4. Carriages  5. Waggons  6. Layouts and models  Appendix of sources of supply for modellers, and a brief index.

This book is a quality production.  Carefully and articulately written, and beautifully illustrated.

I have had no previous particular interest in model railways, but after reading this book, I do wonder what I have been missing.

Here are a few pages chosen at random.

The illustrations are profuse, well chosen, high quality and interesting.

This book will be enjoyed by anyone who is interested in railways 1830-80, and especially modellers.

Dr John Viggers