Southern Region Memories
There is, it must be admitted, no shortage of photograph albums covering the railways of the United Kingdom so it is a brave soul who adds another to the seemingly endless list.
In this case, two brave souls, John Sharp and Tony Hillman who have selected photographs taken by the late John J. Smith and now in the care of the Bluebell's Museum. He worked in the Special Trains Department of the Divisional HQ at Croydon and, therefore, knew of many unusual workings which he then photographed.
For example, a West Country Pacific alongside a Bakerloo Line train at Watford High Street; an elderly C Class engine hauling a brand new electric loco to its new home at Stewarts Lane; the prototype Deltic at Longhedge Junction; and four pictures of preserved stock en route to the Transport Museum at Clapham.
There are engineering trains, weedkilling trains and some Southern engines north of the Thames. The quality of the photographs is uniformly excellent and the captions add extra interest with their well-researched detail.
Click on the cover image for a shot of a Portsmouth Corporation bus delayed at a level crossing by Boscastle.
Noodle Books, 2010, 64 pages. Hardback.