Last Years of the Deltics 1977-82
FOR MOST of their lives the Deltics plied only one main route, apart from a few diversionary and, in later days, secondary lines, and they only ever had two main liveries with a few tweaks here and there. Yet they were popular. The problem with that is there have been hundreds of books written about them, and – put simply – there’s nothing much left for authors to cover.
So this 96-page hardback book, looking at the final five years of their lives, struggles to astound. Yes, the pictures are pretty good, but there is nothing that original. Sure, a classic night shot of a 55 under that magnificent roof at York will always look good. But, let’s face it, we’ve seen it all before. Therefore, this book is really a greatest hits but with no ‘obscure B sides’ to woo anyone.
Yet, when you consider 1977-81 were the years when 55s did do something different, those things simply aren’t covered, apart from the visits to Hull. The highlights such as workings to Skegness, Carlisle, Scarborough, Aberdeen, Carstairs or Cleethorpes are ignored, as are the diversions via Lincoln, Beattock, Cambridge et al. Also missing are the rare workings the fleet made in those five years to the likes of Sheffield, Leicester or Dumfries.
Of their other off-region workings there is one pic at Liverpool but nothing else on the Pennines, not even Leeds, let alone Manchester, Stockport or Huddersfield. There are a few images of railtours, including 55003 to Devon and 55007 to Kent, but, again, nothing too unusual or anything that hasn’t been seen before. Most – not all, but most – of the images are station shots rather than lineside. I have to be honest, there is not a single ‘wow’ picture. Yes, the images are good quality, have been reproduced well and to a good size, but subject-wise it’s just incredibly bland and there isn’t anything original. Some of the captions are weak, and covering two images in one caption with no discernible ‘break’ between the two is not great.
Even given the mass of books on 55s, the brief to catalogue their last five years, could have been much, much better executed. A book only for the real, hardcore Deltic fans, I fear. (PD)