British Railways Station Totems – The Complete Guide

Published by Crécy Publishing www.crecy.co.uk

300mm x 220mm size, 352 pages, hardback. £30.00

ALTHOUGH the first enamel station totems appeared as far back as

1949/1950, and many had a short life span of around a decade, they could still be found gracing station platforms well into the 1970s, so potentially co-existed with a large number of diesel and electric locomotives and first generation multiple units.

However, as the authors concede: “there were thousands of stations, but only a minority ever received totems.”

This book, an updated version of a title originally published in 2002, and a labour of love for Dave and Richard, who have spent decades researching the subject, is therefore hugely useful for modern transport historians and modellers seeking to identify whether totems were ever present at particular stations.

As the title suggests, the contents is comprehensive and profusely illustrated – this is undoubtedly the last word on the subject. It is produced to Crécy’s usual high standards and its long landscape format chimes perfectly with the shape of the ‘hot dog sausage’ totems.