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Light Railways

Caradon and Looe, The Canal, Railways and MinesTwelveheads
Michael Messenger£26.00168 pagesHardback2001
A fully researched history of a Cornish canal, the once wildly profitable mining industry around Caradon Hill, and the two railways that subsequently grew around them. Latterly operating and known as the Looe branch, this is a well illustrated and written story of a locally financed and managed railway that remained highly individual until the Great Western took it over, and even today still has trains running over its improbable permanent way. I have read this from cover to cover and can honestly say that it was enjoyable and interesting throughout.

The Corringham Light Railway A New HistoryPeter Kay
Peter Kay£12.9596 pagesSoftback2008
Having had my appetite whetted by Ivor Gotheridge's little book of a few years ago, I was delighted to come across this new and highly detailed record of this minor railway on the Essex marshes. Covering both the original bucolic and lightly laid passenger carrying line to Corringham and the explosives works and later oil refinery developments at Coryton, this is a fantastically comprehensive record. The photographs are amazing in their coverage and quality and include full details of the fascinating rolling stock used on the line. This would make a wonderful subject for a model, providing scenarios from the very lightest of lines as built to heavy freight carrier as part of it still operates. A great book on a really interesting subject.

The Culm Valley Light RailwayTwelveheads
Michael Messenger£15.0096 pagesHardback1993
A beautiful book, describing and illustrating in considerable style the photogenic light railway that ran from Tiverton Junction to Hemyock. Latterly well known for milk traffic to the dairy at Hemyock, the line survived into the blue diesel era and nearly got a bridge under the then new M5 motorway before succumbing to closure in 1975. This is a well researched and written book that also describes the work and thoughts of Arthur Pain, the line's engineer and an early exponent of light railways. All eras are covered, although photographs of the earlier and steam eras predominate.

The Culm Valley Light RailwayOakwood
Colin G. Maggs£10.95144 pagesSoftback2007
An informative and well illustrated history and description of a very minor railway that survived until 1975 when the dairy it served was closed. All eras are covered in a detailed text but the book's main strength lies in its photographic coverage of the line's infrastructure and the rolling stock used, especially in the BR era. There is good coverage of the latter freight only era and the types of diesels used, although classes 22 and 35 have unfortunately managed to elude the book's photographers.

Freight Traffic on Street Tramways in The British IslesAdam Gordon
David Voice£12.0066 pagesSoftback2007
An insight into an overlooked aspect of tramway operation, revealing that quite a lot of freight has been caried on British tramways. The relatively well known and "railwaylike" Wisbech and Upwell and Wantage tramways are featured, but there is much else besides in what is a well illustrated and fascinating book.

Hospital Tramways and RailwaysAdam Gordon
David Voice£25.00108 pagesHardback2007
An unusual and interesting book. David is a tram and railway enthusiast who whilst working in the health service became aware of a number of hospitals which had possessed their own rail-based system. Fascinated, he started to collect information and has now produced a third enlarged edition of a well illustrated and referenced pictorial book. The book is divided geographically with an additional chapter dealing separately with temporary military hospitals. Each location is well identified with OS map extracts and detailed site plans and the photographic coverage is pretty good, including some fascinating aerial views. There is much of railway interest here which will appeal to devotees of the minor and quixotic and although there are some relatively familiar scenes I will wager that this book contains something which will surprise most. This book is much bigger than the first edition, the result of further information on this fascinating subject coming to light after first publication in 2005.

An Illustrated History of the Kent & East Sussex RailwayOPC
John Scott Morgan£19.99112 pagesHardback2007
A pleasing large format "picture album" type book covering this famous light railway in the years before closure. Extended captions and a written introduction give a good feel for the line and its stock, and the photos are reproduced at a good size. The author is known for his interest in the subject and so I would expect the information to be accurate, although I note that the bibliography is woefully lacking and I felt that the text was at times a bit superficial. Also the track plans and scale drawings have not reproduced too well, although they are interesting as they are taken directly from the survey that BR undertook when they acquired the line. Overall though, an very pleasing book and good value for money I think.

The Kent and East Sussex RailwayOakwood
Stephen Garrett£8.95112 pagesSoftback1999
Arguably Colonel Stephens' most famous railway, and today enjoying a sustained revival, including a scheme to rebuild the link to the main line at Robertsbridge. The photographs are well chosen and cover the route, stations, and the eclectic collection of stock used on the railway. The story of the preservation era makes interesting reading, and brings home the fact that the line has been under the control of the volunteers for nearly 40 years.

The Kent and East Sussex RailwayWild Swan
Brian Hart£34.95282 pagesHardback2009
A well researched and well written account of the development and operation of Colonel Stephens' favourite railway up until closure by BR in 1961. It is also a beautiful record of an era and world that has entirely vanished - a real light railway publishing tour de force.

The Mid Suffolk Light RailwayWild Swan
Peter Paye£21.95216 pagesSoftback2003
Reprinted in 2003 as a softback, a lavish and delightful book, with superb photograpic coverage including the work of Dr Ian C Allen and including full track plans and scale drawings of buildings - a real delight.

Sailing the RailsSpurn Heritage Coast
Howard M. Frost£11.3080 pagesSoftback2007
This is an enlarged edition of a booklet about the fascinating Spurn Peninsula and its military railway, written by one of the two original co-authors. The late Ken Hartley had provided most of the railway content, including a scale drawing of the glorious Hudswell Railcar, and this remains in this new edition. It is supplemented by some additional reminiscences concerning the railway in addition to a lot of extra information on the history and geography of the ever changing Spurn Peninsula itself. The railway used only a few "proper" steam locomotives in its life but was host to a fascinating variety of other rail-borne vehicles, from a converted Itala racing car through various wind powered trolleys to a catholic collection of (slightly) more normal i.c. powered railcars. This is a fascinating book, the production is excellent and the variety and quality of photographs is also excellent, including colour pictures of more recent scenes. My one criticism is that the text has rather too many exclamation marks(!)

The Selsey Tramway Volume OneWild Swan
Laurie A. Cooksey£31.95188 pagesHardback2006
Fully up to Wild Swan's highest standards, this is a well written and fantastically detailed account of a most interesting minor railway. The photographic coverage is astonishing, revealing much more than I have ever seen in print before and all of the line's trials and tribulations are fully explained and illustrated. Laid with incredibly light rail and utilising flimsy rollng stock, the line became part of the Colonel Stephens empire and staggered on until January 1935, after which it was sold off piecemeal as the Southern Railway had sensibly declined to take it over. A second volume details all of the line's hardware and rolling stock, although this book in itself provides a very complete record of the whole enterprise.

The Selsey Tramway Volume TwoWild Swan
Laurie Cooksey£29.95146 pagesHardback2006
This second volume describes the line's route and all of the rolling stock and is an ideal source book for modellers. The locomotives that the line used were a fascinating collection of industrial types and are illustrated and described in very great detail, including the very attractive 2-4-2 "Selsey" supplied by Peckett for the opening of the line in 1897. An assortment of internal combustion based railcars were also used and this book is the most detailed record of this type of vehicle that I have yet seen. Scale drawings of the antiquated stock used are included, mostly derived from photographs, together with sketches and details of the private owner wagons that were used on the line. Another lovely book from Wild Swan.

The Sheppey Light RailwayWild Swan
Brian Hart£10.95104 pagesSoftback1992
By the same author as the "Hundred Of Hoo" book and every bit as interesting, this book is complete in every detail, from the articulated coaches used through to the Edwardian seaside scene. Closed in 1950, an unusual feature was a siding into an airfield.

The Tanat Valley RailwayWild Swan
Mike Lloyd£16.95112 pagesSoftback1990
First class photographs of railway, landscape and details of lineside and operation make this Wild Swan book almost a manual of light railway life. Comprehensive scale drawings of buildings, lineside structures and rolling stock complete this picture of a charming Welsh border branch line. This is one of my very favourite railway books of recent years, and a copy has made its way into my personal book collection. Reprinted 2009.

The Wrington Vale Light RailwayOakwood
Colin G. Maggs£8.95120 pagesSoftback2007
A competent and well illustrated history and account of the light railway that ran from Congresbury on the GWR's Cheddar Valley line to a picturesque terminus at Blagdon. Opened in 1901, a passenger service ran until 1931 while freight traffic lasted until 1950 when the line was cut back to Wrington, which itself closed with the remains of the branch in 1963. Some of the original light section flat bottom rail survived until the end and made an interesting sight under the relatively modern Ivatt 2-6-2s used in the line's last years, well illustrated in several good views in this book.

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