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Your railway books

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backontrack

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Do you have any books on the railways? If so, you can name them here! Which ones are the best?

I'll start us off with the excellent Tiny Stations by Dixe Wills. Dixe goes off on a journey through Britain's request stops, passing through Bugle, Buckenham, Bootle, Beasdale, Talsarnau, Tonfanau and The Lakes. Really recommended, it's a witty and entertaining read.
 
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Johnuk123

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I've got a couple of hundred at a guess, tend to read them once then put them away in a bookcase, the only ones I ever look at again are the ones with maps in.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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I have many hundred of railway books in the railway archive section in the rear room adjacent to my study, that I have collected over the last 50 years, many of which were collections of others who wished to dispose of them, and O S Nock was a favourite author of mine. In the area of the North-West, I regularly purchase each of the new railway books published by Triangle Publishing based in Leigh and I have known the owner of the company and main author, Dennis Sweeney on a personal basis for many years.

Rail atlases in hardback format are of interest to me and besides the well-known detailed technical reference tomes such as Quail, I still tend to purchase the latest copy of each new published edition of:-
Rail Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland by S.K.Baker (now on 14th edition)
British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer by W. PhilipConolly (now on 6th edition)
Railway Atlas..Then and Now by Paul Smith and Keith Turner (now on 2nd edition)

If I had to choose a favourite book from my collection, it will be "Railway Adventure" by Lionel Thomas Caswell Rolt which was first published in 1953 and talks in personal depth about the matters concerning the Talyllyn Railway and of the subsequent setting up of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society that was one of the early leaders in the field of heritage narrow-gauge railways.
 

Kendalian

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Pride of my collection is a 1922 Bradshaw. Republished in the late 80's.
 

GrimsbyPacer

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I have many.
The Great Book of Trains, Jane's World Railways 1989-90, ABC Rail Guide 2013, European Rail Timetable Winter 2008/9, Steam Classics,
Are some of my favourites.I got a few books listing general World loco's, one steam only, one diesels and electrics only. I also have an encyclopaedia listing UK steam locoes. And ofcourse I got Rail Magazine collection.

I don't re-read them much as I'm more interested in Star Trek books.
 

Cowley

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If I had to choose a favourite book from my collection, it will be "Railway Adventure" by Lionel Thomas Caswell Rolt which was first published in 1953 and talks in personal depth about the matters concerning the Talyllyn Railway and of the subsequent setting up of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society that was one of the early leaders in the field of heritage narrow-gauge railways.

That's a brilliant book, one of my favourites, if anyone hasn't read it give it a go.
 
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deltic

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My favorites are

The Network Southeast Story
The Regional Railways Story
The Intercity Story
Britains Railways from the air then and now
I tried to run a railway
Any of the District Controllers series
Gourvish;s History of British Rail
 

trash80

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I've got over 100, latest ones i've got are David Brown's 2 volume history of Southern Electric and a book on the Aldwych branch.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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If I had to choose a favourite book from my collection, it will be "Railway Adventure" by Lionel Thomas Caswell Rolt which was first published in 1953 and talks in personal depth about the matters concerning the Talyllyn Railway and of the subsequent setting up of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society that was one of the early leaders in the field of heritage narrow-gauge railways.

That's a brilliant book, one of my favourites, if anyone hasn't read it give it a go.

Are you quoting the final paragraph of my posting # 3 on this thread ?
 
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Cowley

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Yes sorry, not really very good with computers.
 

AJM580

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Favourite ones in my collection - Janes Railway Year 1985; BR Locomotive Album (the first ever railway book I bought) and Platform Souls by Nicholas Whittaker.
 

TRAX

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I don't have that many but here goes. Most of them are related to british and New Zealand railways and buses.



- Buses Yearbook 2014 (UK)

- Buses By Design (Gavin Booth) (UK)

- HST: The Second Millenium (Colin J. Marsden) (UK)

- London's Underground (John Glover) (UK)

- London Underground Facts (Stephen Halliday) (UK)

- Main Trunk: Portrait Of A Railway (Christine Johnson, Ruth Larsen, Kevin Ramshaw) (NZ)

- ABC Rail Guide 2011 (Colin J. Marsden) (UK)

- Metro Maps Of The World (Mark Ovenden)

- Modern Signalling Handbook (Stanley Hall) (UK)

- The Railway Dictionary (Alan A. Jackson)

- The Story Of London's Underground (John R. Day, John Reed) (UK)

- Traction Recognition (Colin J. Marsden) (UK)

- Underground Overground (Andrew Martin) (UK)

- Trains, Tunnels, Bridges (Matthew Wright) (NZ)



The other transport-related books I have, and the majority, are french.
 

Joe19B

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I'd recommend O S Nock as well.

Other favourites are:—
Harrold Gasson: 'Firing Days,' 'Footplate Days,' 'Nostalgic Days' and 'Signalling Days'
L T C Rolt: 'Red for Danger'
Adrian Vaughan: 'Signalman's Morning,' 'Signalman's Twilight' and 'Signalman's Nightmare'​
 

backontrack

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The Beeching Era is a brilliant book - it maps the system just before Beeching, shows which lines closed, which were earmarked but stayed open, which were closed despite not being suggested, which were listed for development, and which were already going to be closed before Beeching came along. It also shows freight lines and stations.
 

talltim

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Last book I bought was 'Railways of Peru Volume 1 - The Norther Lines' by Robert D. Whetham. Pretty good but a bit lococentric
 

PeterY

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I have too many books to mention here but I do glance at them occasionally.

I love the atlas's especially the Baker ones. I've never come across a 1st edition but would like one for my collection.
 
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