Silver Link Silk Editions: Stratford Depot Locomotives in the Eighties and Nineties

By Roger Rounce (hardback, Silver Link, www.mortonsbooks. co.uk/silverlink, 192pp, £30, ISBN 978-1-85794-608-6)

A goldmine for fans of first-generation main line diesels and the occasional electric too, Stratford Traction Maintenance Depot and Diesel Repair Shop hosts locomotives from every region. As such, it was a draw for enthusiasts in the 1980s and 1990s.

The author showcases a collection of his own images from those days; the volume includes Class 08s, 20s, 31s, 37s, 47s, 58s, 60s, 86s and 87s, and provides details each of the pictured locomotives relating to when it was built, numbers and names carried, plus dates of when it entered service and when it was scrapped.

LONDON MODERN TRACTION MECCA

Llangollen Railway Visitor Guide

By Peter Dickenson (softback, www.mortonsbooks.co.uk/ silverlink, 64pp, £8.99,

ISBN 978-1-85794-550-8)

ONE of the big events in the early part of 2023 will be the opening of the Llangollen Railway’s new Corwen terminus during a fiveday gala starting on March 1, as outlined in our feature in issue 299. It is on track to herald a new era in the history of one of Britain’s most scenic heritage lines.

This handy guide will bring both first-time and seasoned visitors up to speed on the many features to be seen and explored along the line.

There is a potted history of the line and some classic colour pictures from the 1960s, along with a stage-by-stage description of the line and its stations today, plus details of the steam and diesel fleets and rolling stock.

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR VISIT

Steam In The Blood: A Railwayman’s Journey 1941-1982 By RHN Hardy (softback, Crecy Publishing, 400pp, £9.95, ISBN 978-1-80035-145-5)

RICHARD Hardy, who died in 2018 at the age of 94 (Heritage Railway issue 239), was synonymous with the links between the‘Big Four’and BRE eras. He commanded as much respect in the heritage era – and deservedly so.

Having joined the LNER as a premium apprentice in January 19841, he rose through the ranks to become a shedmaster at the age of 22, was in charge of five major depots by his mid-30s, and eventually became a BR divisional manager.

He oversaw the big switch from steam to modern traction of the Eastern region’s Stratford district.

Here is a budget-price reissue of his two autobiographical works, Steam In The Blood and Railways In The Blood, a welcome release as both have been out of print for several years.

RICHARD HARDY – LEGEND IN HIS LIFETIME

More Memories of a Didcot Steam Apprentice: The home and work diary of an apprentice fitter, 19601966

By Patrick Kelly, edited by Will Adams (softback, Silver Link, www. mortonsbooks.co.uk/silverlink, 288pp, £30, ISBN 978-1-85794-572-0) HERE is the follow-up to Didcot Steam Apprentice, the author’s memoirs of his time with BR in the early 1960s, which was published in 2008.

He now reveals more about his day-to-day life at Didcot shed as a 15-year-old in the dying years of Western region steam.

Perilous and dirty jobs on and below the steam locomotives in his charge are described, along with his occasionally fractious relationships with his workmates, and how he developed his skills at the shed forge.

His story also covers time at Swindon, Reading, and Old

Oak Common.

A BOY LEARNING TO HOLD HIS OWN IN A STEAM MAN ‘S WORLD

Train Teasers: A Quiz Book For The Cultured Trainspotter

By Andrew Martin (hardback and ebook, Profile Books, 228pp, £14.99, ISBN 978-1-78816-394-1)

AT first sight, a fun book ideal to test the knowledge of your railway mates over the festive season or on a long train journey at any other time, and as such here is an ultimate stocking filler.

However, it is also a thoughtprovoking look back at less known, forgotten, or utterly bizarre feature of railway history.

How many viaducts are on the Settle and Carlisle line? Which builder of Underground railways in London had served time in the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia? Who, on July 5, 1841, took his first step in his leisure travel business by chartering a train to take 500 temperance supporters from Leicester to Loughborough? Which actor restored kippers to the menu of the Brighton Belle?

And yes, the answers are all in the back for quick reference!

TRIVIA ON A LEARNING CURVE

Northern Rail Steam: The Final Years

By Alley Heyes (hardback, Crecy Publishing, 224pp, £22.50, ISBN 9781-80035-252-0)

A SEQUEL to the author's successful volume, Northern Rail Rover, here is a new album of more than 200 previously unpublished photographs from his 1960s jaunts around the network, covering an area from North Wales to the North East of England.

The atmosphere of the twilight years of steam is unmistakable, with scruffy and untidy engine sheds and grimy locomotives, and the steam infrastructure that was soon to be swept away. The large square format of the volume throws the pictures into sharp relief.

In addition to the expected plethora of main line locomotive types, the authors forays took him to industrial lines. For instance, we see a Bagnall fireless locomotive hauling a rake of seven-plan wagons loaded with coal at a power station and Raven, a Hawthorne Leslie 0-4-0ST, hard at work at nearby Huncoast Coliery. WARTS-AND-ALL VIEW OF THE LAST DECADE OF STEAM

The History of Deal Railway Station

By Colin Varrall (softback, Colin Varrall addelambooks@outlook. com; also available from John Roper stationers, High Street, Deal. 66pp, £10 plus £2.05 p&p)

YOU will not see many books written only on the history of one station outside of cities, but when this station is 175 years old and in the historic town of Deal, this can be one of the exceptions.

Kent historian and author Colin Varrall has explained how this station was built and how it became a vital asset to Deal.

The volume covers from the birth of steam locomotives to the station opening in 1847 at a time when it was only linked to Minster, and how it was gradually expanded to link to Dover in 1881, with intermediate stations in Walmer opening the same year and Martin Mill opening in 1899. Journeys from Dover to London were then more easily available to Deal's residents.

This book offers early timetables, maps, and snippets from newspaper cuttings on the line's progress together with diagrams, drawings, old photographs from 1860 onwards, and copies of railway posters.

The ever-evolving Deal and its railway has seen its importance as a trading port move to a navy base and then later an army base; during the war it was bombed, and also saw the station help with both troop evacuees from Dunkirk and the evacuation of its children to Wales.

The railway saw Nationalisation in 1948 and electrification in 1961. It won a best kept station award in 1965 and has been critical in bringing in large numbers of visitors, which slowly resumed after the war. The line was also busy with an increase in parcel post and with coal trains from Betteshanger Colliery, but by 1972 this had ceased, and the goods yard was closed. In 2011, high-speed railway services were introduced.

SUPERB INSIGHT INTO STATION THAT'S A BEATING HEART