Terminal Blue Vol 1 – Paddington 1977-86

AUTHOR: Ted Reading PUBLISHER: Under My Stairs Books

ISBN: -

PRICE: £10.00 inc p&p ORDER: irisandtedreading@ gmail.com

TEL: 01460 63904

THE AUTHOR follows on from his previous work (see March issue, p72) by travelling a few miles east to Paddington to photograph the daily comings and goings at Brunel’s iconic terminus. This time there is some more background to his life at the start before he concentrates on Paddington. The era in question covers all of my time at Old Oak Common and I believe I might feature in one of his images! Some fascinating shots include the busy concourse and platforms thronging with passengers and these add some atmosphere, supporting the photos of the various trains. It might be all ‘run of the mill’ stuff such as DMUs, HSTs and Classes 31, 47 and 50, but it was still an interesting time and it certainly brings back memories. The final pages of the book include images taken at the long-gone Westbourne Park station, lineside at Mitre Bridge, and finally at Old Oak Common itself. There are a few minor technical inaccuracies among the captions, but I only know them because I worked the area at the time, so I’ll not detail them here. Instead I’ll just say the book is another excellent recollection of a period that was particularly relevant to me, and I dare say to many other readers too, and is well worth adding to the book case. (MN)