Express Diesel Trains

AUTHOR: George Woods

PUBLISHER: Amberley Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-39811-564-4

PRICE: £15.99

WEBSITE: www.amberley-books.com

ONE OF the latest releases to come from Amberley Publishing is this photo album focusing on Express Diesel Trains on the UK railway network, compiled using the extensive photographic collection of George Woods.

However, the main focus of attention within the book covers the high speed train fleet, which is hardly surprising considering the huge impact the HST fleet has held since it was first introduced into traffic in 1976. Coverage of the HSTS throughout their working lives is extensive, with three quarters of the book devoted to them.

The final quarter takes a look at the more modern fleets, with a number of pages devoted to the Class 220 Voyager and Class 221 Super Voyager fleets introduced into service by Virgin Trains on their Crosscountry and West Coast franchises just after the turn of the millennium. Although most of the space covers the Virgin Trains era, a small number of pictures of the Crosscountry Voyagers are included, but surprisingly none covering the Avanti West Coast period.

The Class 180 Adelantes and a small number of images of the Class 222 Meridians are also featured, and the final couple of pages look at some of the Hitachi-built bi-mode trains that have entered traffic in recent times.

Overall, the images have been reproduced generally well and are reasonably well-captioned, although some of the photos appear to have been rather tightly cropped. This is a good photo album and represents good value for money at £15.99, but I can’t help feeling that it probably should have concentrated solely on the HSTS, as the remainder of the types featured in the book almost feel like an afterthought.