Locomotive Firemen: Supermen!

I have today an interesting post. Earlier I was digging a big trench for a drainpipe before filling it in again. That has nothing to do with railways. But it got me thinking...

Every shovelful of dirt would have been half as heavy as a shovelful of coal. I wasn't standing in front of a boiling hot firebox, but could at least stop and have a breather and a quick cuppa. Firemen would be lucky on some runs to even think about tea let alone a breather. I had five others helping me- a fireman might not even get help from their driver on occasion.

I was not working to a specific schedule and it took us longer than expected. A fireman...well, he and his driver would have been 'on the carpet' if they took any extra time.

Add to it the fact that we had the luxury of stopping for lunch and dinner, washing our hands etc...

The age of steam was a grimy one as well as being' romantic'.

Hats off to all of you firemen who fired in regular service; you and the other unsung heroes from the age of steam deserve as much congratulation as the Engineers and others who get all the glory.

Highland Shirt avaliable!

At long last, the OFFICIAL Highland Railway t-shirt is avaliable from my redbubble page!

Its easily the best one yet, and I would be delighted if a few of those who read here can buy a couple! Please consider getting one- I am trying to save up for a few new railway books that are a bit outside my current budget. Anyone who helps me save for them will have my gratitude!

Review: The Trains we Loved

(WARNING! I GO OFF ON A TANGENT HALF WAY THROUGH...)

Here's a quick review of a book that I recently picked up and was delighted with: 'The Trains we Loved' by C. Hamilton Ellis, yet another distinguished railway author (and painter) who is almost as well known as O.S. Nock (probably the best known of them all).

This particular book was published in 1947, has had its name taken by a more recent book by David St John Thomas and is most assuredly NOT the same book. Both, however, have something in common: they are overwash with NOSTALGIA. This is in effect what makes both books so interesting especially for modern readers who have never seen the railways when worked by steam.

While the newer book is awash with information about the experiences of the author in BR days, this older book has crucial memories of a life that began over a century ago: in the days of the pre-grouping powers: the famous LNWR, Midland, London and South Western, original GWR and the North British are but a few of the long-gone railways discussed in wonderfully descriptive prose that can only come from someone who saw the railways in action as a boy.

What makes this book thereby so important to modern eyes is the fact that few traces remain of these lines: a mediocre number of pre-grouping locomotives have survived, and fewer in active service: for example, the LNWR has just one locomotive surviving from its 20th Century stock (the recently overhauled 'G2').

One thing that is different about Ellis' (and O.S Nock's) books is how different they are to modern treatises on such subjects (say, a modern author's take on the Highland Railway will be matter-of-fact and be based on research- and author's viewpoint- rather than the experience of engines/system in action and the benifit of first hand observation of the line compared to other such lines). Mr Ellis is only to happy to label things as good or bad -or even both!-in his view, whereas most authors tend to be biased but not deliberately involved. Here is a fine passage which illustrates what I mean. Ellis writes as if describing something in a novel:

Crossing London River, the railway system of Kent was one of the most individual, most important, best of a kind, worst of a kind, most delightful and most detestable in Great Britain.

What a wonderfully different viewpoint! Modern authors cannot say such things unless they have information from various sources (for example, Edward Talbot's 'The LNWR Recalled' discussed in an earlier post has stories and information from those who worked/lived in LNWR days- the evidence overwhelmingly, for example, redeems F.W Webb of his stigma and also gives his compounds more creedence- this would not be possible without such evidence!).

Of course, this also adds a few problems- first, Ellis is harsh on things he personally dislikes, such as F.W Webb's reign on the LNWR, describing him as an austere, joyless man- several anecdotes from enginemen and others who knew Mr Webb describe him as an authoritarian yet good-natured man appreciative of humour and charitable (see 'The LNWR Recalled' for more). However, this is not Ellis' sole domain- O.S Nock is less critical but also gives Webb a mean serve. Disgracefully, many modern authors from Adrian Vaughn to Owen Jordan (the latter's 'Jordan's Guide to British Steam Locomotives' gives extremely poor misinformation about Webb's experiments and character, the book itself a travesty of criticism that the author is NOT qualified to make on such poor evidence in many subjects mentioned) continue to spiel rubbish about Mr Webb based on dubious evidence- a whitewash against him by his successor, George Whale. (it might interest many that Ellis' biography of Webb in Twenty Locomotive Men has been largely attacked by those in the know as being full of misinformation). A fine biography on him, 'F.W. Webb: in the right place at the Right time',corrects these misinformations very well. Plainly put, Ellis cannot be trusted on Webb in any of his texts!

However, The Trains we loved is a superb tome nonetheless. It is even better when added to Mr Ellis 'Some classic locomotives', which describe a number of types of locomotive- not classes, but designs, such as the beyer-garratt, the Crampton, the 4-6-0 etc (one highly interesting part is given to Ellis' musings on idiotic names applied to some wheel arrangements, such as 'American'for the 4-4-0. He gives the lovely name 'Old English' to the 2-4-0: would that enthusiasts take it up!).

As with all Ellis' texts, there are superb colour paintings to accompany it. Given colour photos of the engines shown are RARE if not NON-EXSISTANT, then these pictures are especially important!

Overall, a superb book- that I mark down solely for Mr Ellis' historical accuracy on some things (apart from the Webb thing I can't bring up the others offhand, but there are some. I think...)

GET A COPY!
9/10
As always, I can assist buyers in tracking it down- ebay is of no use here most of the time.

Excellent Railway Prints "Locos in Profile"

(note: this post didn't go through earlier when I said it was, I only just noticed)

I have recently found a site that offers some of the most detailed profile prints of steam engines I have ever seen- technical precision to every nut and bolt. They're drawn from a combination of sources- works pictures, technical drawings and shots of the engines in service. So far I've had a look at- and am purchasing eventually- the B-17 'Sandringham' and the magnificent 'Cock o' the North'.

So far, there about about ten different prints available- however, what sets this site apart is the 'type submission' section- where you can nominate your favourite engines to be done next! (I have emailed already requesting, you guessed it, Jeanie Deans, the artist knew of the class and said he would consider it if there was more call for pre-grouping types)

The price is fair at around 20-30 pounds for a single print (depends on type of engine you're buying).

LOCOS IN PROFILE

Advice on buying overseas railway goodies

All right, a quick note here to say something on how to find books on certain railway subjects given our pathetic bookstores cater more to car enthusiasts- and the train books are horrifically expensive! Of course, the best thing to do is buy online. So how do you get the most of your money when buying from say the UK or America?

Research!

See a book on the subject on ebay- whether America, UK or Australia, never bid on a item unless you have some idea of what the book is retailing for elsewhere. Often, when you factor in postage you can often get a better deal on Amazon!

A good site to check for british related railway books is Antiqbook- I managed to acquire a copy of the wonderful LNWR locomotive book I mentioned in an earlier post for about half of what someone is currently selling for on ebay. I will add several more good sellers at the end of this post.

Should you buy from the US or UK? Firstly, some things will ONLY be available in the UK or viceversa- you won't find many books on small UK branch lines or locomotives studies on Amazon US unless its a british seller. Also, note that postage seems to vary IMMENSELY from seller to seller. Amazon has a flat rate, but not everything will ship to Australia. American postage is very varied, and I have had to wait longer for US deliveries in general. My record for a package from the UK (Scotland, actually) was four days! (and a very fair priced postage) Generally I've noticed postage for the UK sellers on ebay to be around 6-15 dollars, depending on size- and some sellers are more fair than others.

One very important factor- the exchange rate. The American dollar is killing us, but the Pound is the same its been the last couple of years (averaging around 45 pence to our dollar). Although most people will tell you to source the items from the US instead, I have in the past bought books that have worked out less in the UK than in the US- remember that our dollar is no longer 95 cents to the Greenback, and when the exchange rate comes up with inflated American postage it can really blow out the cost. Not that the UK is immune to this, of course, but I would suggest weighing up the postage costs and the item cost itself before clicking 'buy'.

Whatever you do, don't buy anything from overseas without working out exactly what its going to cost you in AU$. The best site for currency exchange is undoubtedly Xe.com which does up-to date conversions on current market rates- crucial! You should always check the exchange rate just before you hit 'buy'- if you check even one hour earlier things can change for better or worse.



One thing to watch out for in exchange rates: Paypal, the choice of payment used by an awful lot of sites, exchanges money at a lower rate (maybe 1 or 2 cents) than what it is currently being sold for, meaning this will increase your costs slightly- a thing to watch out for. Also, NEVER pay for an item by international money order from your bank- they will charge you though the nose.



One final recommendation I can make: be extremely careful dealing with any country who uses the Euro. Even though this is cheaper than the pound, the postage costs are HORRIFIC. I once ordered a book from italy that cost 10 euros, and had 28 euros postage added to it...coming out at around 70 DOLLARS.



Some good sites:

T-P Rail Books (this gentlemen has some great books, some of which are at very low prices: his postage to australia is 3 pounds surface: extremely fair

UK Book World

Amazon UK (the american one is simply .com)

Antiqbook UK: a fantastic collection of books of every kind, from all manner of seller.


I will add more as I find them, or if you have any good ones please comment!

More T-shirts, REVIEW: "The Leader Project- Fiasco or Triumph?"

Right, about time for an update. At the moment I'm working on a special Highland Railway shirt (which has been praised by the Highland Railway Society!) so anybody who's a fan of the Scottish Lines will be very happy.

Now, for the first of my reviews: given that a limited 00 Gauge run of the famous 'Leader' prototype built by Oliver Bulleid for the Southern is to be expected within one or two years, I thought it timely to cover what is undoubtedly one of the best books about this controversial engine. 'The Leader Project: Fiasco or Triumph?' by Kevin Robertson covers every aspect of the engine's life: from the first experiments done on the H1 Atlantic 'Hartland Point' through to the designs life under BR and its highly sketchy decision to scrap it and two partially completed sisters. The author carefully examines the merits and demerits of the project, and comes to an extremely fair conclusion (and one that most steam fans should agree with in light of the evidence).

What is interesting is not only the engine data but also what has until recently been swept under the proverbial carpet- the attitudes of BR to the project, and the mystery behind why 'Leader' seemed to behave better whenever Bulleid was present and why a number of successful runs were ignored. As for the photographs, it is PROFUSELY and superbly illustrated, with photographs that have seen publication. 'Hartland Point', the Leader itself, its operations and its demise all appear, sadly there is no colour but given the time period and the relative secrecy associated with the project this is unsurprising. However, the magnificent painting on the front cover is definately a great shot!

My verdict?

9/10

If my review has interested you, check out the amazon link (avaliable in papaerback or more expensive hardcover- although the painting is bigger on the hardcover:

LEADER: FIASCO OR TRIUMPH?

As a follow up, consider tracking down a book written about of the 'Leader's' little brother, which has been covered much less but in fact seems to have done much better- it was designed by Bulleid after becoming chief of the Irish CIC railway, to burn peat turf, giving rise to its famous 'Turfburner' tag.

This book, 'Bulleid and the Turf Burner' is not as easy to find but is a great tome not just about the 'Irish Leader' but also other Irish experiments in turf-burning locomotives. Although a litle thin for my liking, it is probably the only good book on the subject, so it is also recommended:

8/10 (deducted a point for the length, which is irritating for non-british buyers given how bad the exchange rate is!)

Amazon link (but try ebay and amazon.co.uk as well)

My LNWR' "battle of the CMEs" post has fallen pretty much by the wayside, in the meantime let me try and bring the best to the blog of all the railways' many subjects!

T-SHIRTS FOR SALE!

INTERJECTION!

Now in addition to enjoying this blog, you can purchase the first of what will be many rail-way themed shirts on my redbubble page. And what better way to start than with two designs of LNER shirt?

One has 'LNER 4472 DONCASTER' in the classic yellow/red lettering (as close as I could get it without seeing the original writing close people!), and the classic LNER ellipse symbol, made with great difficulty in Photoshop!

Please consider purchasing one and help support my efforts to make even better ones!

REDBUBBLE PAGE LINK