Railways Remembered North East England

AUTHOR: Martin Jenkins and Charles Roberts

PUBLISHER: Crecy Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-80035-275-9

PRICE: £22.50

WEBSITE: www.crecy.co.uk

THE PUBLICATION of goodquality photo albums is growing in popularity, with series such as Platform 5 Publishing’s

The Beaten Track setting new standards that other publishers would be wise to emulate.

This new release from Crecy and compiled by Martin Jenkins and Charles Roberts takes a nostalgic look at the railway network around the North East from the 1950s through to the 1970s – a period that started with steam traction still being dominant but ended with the emergence of the iconic high-speed trains.

The book also looks at the various industrial railway networks that operated in the region, with steam and diesel traction carrying out the unglamourous but essential work they were built to do. Even the advent of the Tyne & Wear Metro network is covered, with the first vehicles for the system arriving in the North East in the late 1970s. Railways Remembered North East England is a hardback book, with excellent photo reproduction and containing some really well-selected photographs with detailed and informative captions. Not all of the images could be described as being pin-sharp, but they are included as part of the story of the rail network. As a coffee table-style photo album, this has been put together well, and although steam traction occupies most of the pages, as well as a decent smattering of industrial railways in action, if you are a fan of the earlier BR diesel and electric era into the 1970s, then there is likely to be something of interest for you. I enjoyed pouring over the pages. AMC