Class 68 and Class 88 Locomotives

AUTHOR: John Jackson PUBLISHER: Amberley Publishing ISBN: 978-1-44568-316-4 PRICE: £15.99 WEBSITE: www.amberleybooks.com

THIS NEW book release from Amberley takes a look at the Direct Rail Services fleet of 34 Class 68 diesel locomotives and 10 bi-mode Class 88s, as captured by the camera of author John Jackson.

The Class 68s have certainly made their mark on the railway since first arriving in the country, and sub-leases for the locomotive have seen many of them deployed on passenger workings for Transpennine Express, Chiltern Railways and Scotrail, becoming popular with enthusiasts and gaining quite a following. The Class 88s have also proved to be useful machines for DRS, and these are also given a suitable level of coverage.

The book begins with a photo guide in numerical order of the 34 Class 68s, before moving on to the Class 88s. Sections then look at the nameplates and worksplates fitted to the locomotives, before various sections focusing on the various workings that the fleets have worked since their introduction. As with all Amberley photobooks, this volume consists of 96 pages in full colour.

Photo reproduction is generally excellent, with most of the images being crisp and sharp, although there are a handful of images that are a little ‘muddy’ and have an air of being space fillers. A couple of the pictures are also quite tightly cropped.

However, these are very minor niggles and overall this is a good photographic record of the Class 68 and 88 fleets that should be popular with enthusiasts of the locomotive and modellers, too. I enjoyed flicking through the pages of this volume. (AMC)