Whats New

Matt PInto    [Publisher: Wild Swan]    Softback

The first book to be published on its subject, the complete story of how milk was transported in bulk by the railways - after the development of the milk tanker and demise of the milk churn, but before road transport took over. The arguably "happier" years before deregulation and the bullying dominance of the supermarket chains of recent years. The background and general history of the subject is covered, with the development of larger dairying companies and the formation of the Milk Marketing Board being being well explained. There is a large amount of detail, covering in particular the development and different types of railway milk tanks used for the traffic, together with comprehensive details of the dairies and locations sending out milk by rail tank, together with the varied destinations and depots that received it. Large depots such as Wood Lane, together with more obscure destinations like Eltham and Forest Hill. All of this is accompanied by a very large number of photographs and illustrations, many of which have not appeared in print before. The different routes and train workings are also explored, in addition to the varieties of specialist brake vehicles used, togther with the different types of motive power utilised. An appendix has the late Glen Woods' complete summary list of all milk tanks operated, and the book also has an index of the locations included in the text.

Paul Karau    [Publisher: Cygnet Magazines]    Magazine

Edited by Paul Karau, who discusses model private owner wagon building, with reference to a wonderful new book on the subject from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Society, fully reviewed by Karl Crowther in this issue. The main layout feature is an exquisitely well photographed account of Greg Coomber's wonderful 7mm scale "Conyer Creek Signals", a really convincing "might have been" set on the edge of North Kent salt marshes. I find this hugely inspiring, a wonderful confection of features and realities from the quirky branch lines of the SE&CR, much artful scratch building and brilliant modelling of watery features, a complete joy, and viewable at this year's Uckfield show on the 19th and 20thOctober. Other features do not disappoint, a lovely scratchbuilt 3mm scale branch terminus "Oxenhope" from Victor Hall, a beautifully bonkers recreation of Coventry station's 1839 shed and pump house, a superb Finney 7 K3 in "Portfolio", painted and weathered by Paul Moore and Neil Podberry respectively, agricultural sack transhipment, period scaffolding, a brace of Stanier 3Ps in EM from Karl Crowther part two, a day return to Geoff Foster's Bleddfa Road for more of less(!), Trevor Pott's Concertina Van Third, all the usual features and finally Simon Dunkley has penned a thoughtful appreciation of his friend Trevor Nunn, who sadly left us in June of this year. The "Compleat Railway Modeller" indeed.