Recommended Railway Books

[Drakken]

I have been recommended to read, Oil On The Rails by Alan Coppin. Supposedly a very good read and very informational. I know you can get near anything on the internet but I fancied not having the fan on my laptop wizzing round and a good read. Awaiting for it to arrive. I'll upload a section or any requests if I can as I don't have a scanner at home but I'll try 

Information about the book below. Any other good reads like this people know of 

The oil companies formed a significant proportion of the Private Owners of railway wagons, particularly following Nationalisation when so much freight was forsaking rail for road transport. But who were these companies, where were they located and when did they operate? What were their products and where were they sent?

This book attempts to answer these questions as well as describing the planning, design and operating of oil depots and the construction and evolution of tank wagons.

[Newportnobby]

Any other good reads like this people know of?

Suggest you have a look through the Book Review section.
Don't forget to review your book when you've read it!

[Drakken]

I think I should read the forum more & check for correct sections lol 

[mr bachmann]

there's always Bradshaw's   

[Drakken]

I loved the Michael Portillo series 

[NeMo]

Any other good reads like this people know of

If you're after books currently in print, a couple spring to mind.

"Giants of Steam" by Jonathan Glancey is excellent, and looks at the generation of steam loco engineers between the 1930s and 1960s. Even if you're a diesel fan, or focus on the modern scene, you'll get a lot from this book. It's about making decisions between competing requirements; about trying to solve engineering problems; and about how time and money temper the ambitions of the men building the railways. You'll come away with a much keener understanding of how rapidly steam locos advanced in the mid 20th century, and from a British perspective, you'll have a better awareness of just how radical and advanced the designs in the US and especially France were compared to ours*. There's also an excellent chapter on post-steam-era steam loco design, with a few 'what might have beens' and 'last gasps' thrown in for good measure.

"Western Glory" by Chris Chapman is simply the best book of loco photos I've ever come across. Not that it has better or more photos than other books, but that you'll actually read the long captions with each of them. It's a book steeped in the shared passion of a father and son, the father a railwayman, and together the captions reveal a lot about how they experienced the running down of the 'Westerns' during the mid to late 70s. Because the photos are the ones they took, they're all new, so this isn't a book where you're going to see the same old, same old photos and photographers.

Cheers, NeMo

*Though don't worry, there's plenty of love for Gresley, Stanier, et al., here to keep even the most insular railway buff happy!

[Drakken]

@NeMo

I've just purchased the "Giants of Steam" by Jonathan Glancey had on offer £3.49 down from £20.00 so thought why not 

I'll have a good read, The information in your post has me very intrigued

"Western Glory" by Chris Chapman, Ordered also and really can't wait to receive them I do like a Western in BR Blue.

Sorry for keeping this reply so short at work and meant to be working lol 

[martyn]

You can't have too many books on the real railway, especially colour albums to show what the real railway looked like  . I have two large book cases full!
It might be worth looking through 'Remainder' bookshops such as The Works; these often have very good deals, though I appreciate the web is a lot closer and quicker!
Martyn

[Drakken]

@martyn

I think your totally right, You can't have to many of the real thing. I'm sure there are photo's and information never 'uploaded' on the internet and will be gems to find. I've noted 'The Works' and will be checking book shops from now on 

[NeMo]

Remainders at places like The Works tend to be at the casual end of the railway book market. So after getting one or two books about 'the greatest steam trains of the century' and that sort of thing, you might quickly get bored with their selection.

On the other hand, Invicta Models has a lot of really good railway books at the serious end of the market, both real world and modelling themes.

http://www.invictamodelrail.com/railway-modelling-books-190-c.asp
http://www.invictamodelrail.com/railway-books-191-c.asp

If you search for 'bargain' on both those pages, you'll find a lot of good stuff. Visit the shop and go upstairs for a good (and likely expensive) browse because they often seem to have discounted books up there you don't see on their website.

It's an excellent model railway shop generally, with good prices on N stuff, much in the tradition of the Rochester Signal Box store -- with which I believe it is related through its staff and owner.

Cheers, NeMo

PS. So far as secondhand goes, you can get 'Last Steam Locomotives of British Railways' by Ransome-Ellis very easily via secondhand stores and online. Often cheaply. It's a fascinating read, with a little bit about just about every imaginable loco still working in the 1950s and 60s. My copy was annotated by a driver, mostly stating he drove such-and-such a loco, but sometimes with comments, like 'very strong', which I find fascinating.

[port perran]

There are literally thousands of railway books out there(several hundred of them in my book cupboards!).
A good second hand railway bookshop is worth a browse. If you like pictorial books with a reasonable and informative caption for each picture the Bradford Barton series are good.

[Karhedron]

I like the "Historical survey of selected Great Western Stations" series. They are great books that give fantastic inspiration for track plans and cover everywhere from Paddington to Penzance.

[Webbo]

*Though don't worry, there's plenty of love for Gresley, Stanier, et al., here to keep even the most insular railway buff happy!

NeMo

I much appreciate your irony and self deprecation on the western bit.

All seriousness aside, I suggest "Fire & Steam - A New History of the Railways in Britain" by Christian Wolmar as a good read. This one is not heavy on the mechanical stuff, but it does provide a history of how the railways were financed, politics involved, and their social impacts including stimulating growth of towns, industrialisation, football, and fish and chips. Well written and interesting.

Webbo

[Bealman]

I would like to suggest at this point in the thread that members write reviews in our book review section. All of the above info is good, and would fit very well there. 

[martyn]

With apologies to Bealman, as I'm talking about collections rather than individual books, but I would suggest that book selection could be under very loose headings such as History-individual railways, lines, and locos/rolling stock; albums-invaluable for picture of real trains and locations, and especially useful if dated, captioned, and these days, increasingly in colour; and technical-how the whole of the railway worked, trains, signalling, the overall organisation; this would include scaled drawings.
I also appreciate that The Works tends to be 'casual'; I gave it as an example of where books may be found. I have picked up one or two books there, especially album style, which have been of use. My local remainder bookshop, in a small market town, currently has books about diverse things such as GE section in colour, Level Crossings, and the 'Austerity' 2-8-0s!
With regards to Drakken's comments about unpublished photos; this is very true; one of my cousins was a fairly prolific photographer in the last days of steam, and has/had a whole collection of photos from, eg, Shap, the Midlands, and the Isle of Wight. I myself have several hundred slides taken in approx. 1973-1986 which are now historic in their own right, but will never see publication (if any are good enough!).
Apologies where due.
Martyn