Deltics Over The Pennines

AUTHORS: Mark Allatt & Ken Carr

PUBLISHER: Visions International Entertainment Ltd

ISBN: 978-1-91269-555-3

PRICE: £29.95

WEBSITE: www.visionsinternational.myshopwired.com

THIS IS a great book that takes you on a photographic journey of the Deltics in their twilight years away from their usual stomping ground on the East Coast Main Line, and shows an important period in the history of the Class 55 fleet.

This photo book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the Deltics, with extensive coverage of the locomotives working on the Trans-pennine route between York and Liverpool, taking them firmly away from their usual ECML operating patch.

Covering the period between June 1979 and December 1981, this is an extensive study of the Deltics working service trains and railtours during their final months in service on BR. By the time the locomotives started working on the Liverpool services, the first two Class 55s had already been stored, destined never to work again. But with the Deltics starting to be displaced by the HSTS on the ECML, their use on the Liverpool trains provided useful work for the remaining examples. As five of the six preserved production Deltics have spent periods running on the national network following preservation in the last 25 years, there are also a number of pages devoted to main line railtours to operate in the area during the preservation era.

The book finishes with a data file detailing all of the known

Deltic workings of service trains to Liverpool Lime Street.

Containing 300 photographs, most of which are colour, within

148 pages, this hardback book is priced at a reasonable £29.95 (plus £2.95 for UK postage and packing). The publisher has also stated that £2 from every copy sold will be donated to the Deltic Preservation Society, so purchasing a copy is supporting the ongoing preservation of these iconic locomotives.

Photobooks aren’t for everyone, but this covers a period in the history of a locomotive type that has been extensively written about, featuring a largely overlooked period in their history, and illustrated with photographs from a number of renowned photographers. Most photographs deserve their place in the book and the authors have selected them well. The captions are mainly brief, but they do contain all the relevant information you could need.

If you admire the Deltics, this book is well worth adding to your collection. Highly recommended. (AMC)