LONDON MIDLAND SCOTTISH (LMS)

IN STOCK

By Ian Sixsmith

Approx. 280 pages,hardback

ISBN 978-1-911262-11-4

Latest in the longstanding ‘Book Of’ series, in TWO PARTS to adequately cover the great number of locomotives involved (245 no less). The story begins with the Crabs as a new concept at the time of the Grouping; a powerful modern Mixed Traffic loco intended as the precursor of a standard range and how the concept turned to dust in early LMS internal machinations. All the usual works histories and allocations are here for every loco, together with THE DEVIL IN THE DETAIL down to the merest rivet, from liveries and tender varieties, brakes and lubrication, to experimental valve gear and every other facet of these mightily impressive moguls.

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IN STOCK

OUT NOW

COLOUR THROUGHOUT

P.J. Coster C.Eng, MICE, MCIT

This book is a collection of memories, experiences and anecdotes from one who joined the London Midland Region (LMR) of British Railways (BR) and trained as an engineer, mainly in civil engineering, with that organisation. The book is set out chronologically and it is not intended in any way to be an exhaustive description or history, because the author’s acquaintance was far from comprehensive. Beyond Crewe that acquaintance, apart from cab riding, reduces to a handful of locations almost entirely concerned with bridgeworks or, later, photography. The author’s involvement in the electrification project work gives the narrative a southern emphasis. At one time he was responsible in the Divisional Civil Engineer’s organisation for permanent way (p.way) renewal, then maintenance on the Euston-Shilton and St.Pancras-Oakley sections, which means that he knew the routes well in the 1960s. On the other hand bridge works, new works, schemes and surveys tended to be location specific. His site experience was gained during the electrification of the West Coast main line (WCML), and the work involved with that enormous change is woven into the narrative.

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IN STOCK

By Ian Sixsmith

Part 5 completes this series, with the Caprottis and the final LMS and BR-built locomotives. As we’ve discovered, the Black 5s were not all the same – far from it. The story has unfolded in an approximate chronological sequence, which makes sense – at least more sense than other approaches. So the books are arranged in the order in which the locomotives were introduced, with an added twist that particularly in matters such as boilers and tenders there is a certain amount of back and forward cross-referencing. Some details are covered in more depth in the earlier books and only summarised in the later parts.

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IN STOCK

OUT NOW

By Ian Sixsmith

Part 1 covered the background to the design, the first fifty locomotives from Vulcan Foundry and the 1935 engines built at Crewe, and this part deals with the similar 1935 Vulcan Foundry and Armstrong Whitworth locomotives. Part 3 will describe the ‘Mark 2’ 1936 Armstrong Whitworth locomotives and will sweep up the remaining pre-war engines. Part 4 will deal with the war-time and immediate post-war LMS batches leaving Part 5 for the Caprottis and the final LMS and BR-built locomotives. As we will discover, the Black 5s were not all the same – far from it . The story unfolds in an approximate chronological sequence, which makes sense – at least more sense than other approaches. So the books are arranged in the order in which the locomotives were introduced, with an added twist that particularly in matters such as boilers and tenders there is a certain amount of back and forward cross-referencing. Some details are covered in more depth in the earlier books and only summarised in the later parts.



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IN STOCK

OUT NOW

By Ian Sixsmith

After a short pause to gather breath following Parts 1 and 2 covering the ‘Mark 1’ Black 5s it was time to embark on this, Part 3, which deals primarily with what came to be the largest batch of ostensibly identical locomotives to run on the LMS. These ‘Mark 2’ Armstrong Whitworth locomotives may have started life all the same but there will be sufficient for the engine picker to work with, and the final twenty pre-war engines also covered in this volume introduce plenty of subtle differences. The books are arranged in the approximate chronological sequence in which the locomotives were introduced, with an added twist that particularly in matters such as boilers and tenders there is a certain amount of back and forward cross-referral. In the spirit of ensuring that if you buy one book you will surely need the others to complete the set then some details are covered in more depth in the earlier books and only summarised in the later parts.



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IN STOCK

OUT NOW

Part 1 covered the background to the design, the first fifty locomotives from Vulcan Foundry and the 1935 engines built at Crewe, and this part deals with the similar 1935 Vulcan Foundry and Armstrong Whitworth locomotives. Part 3 will describe the ‘Mark 2’ 1936 Armstrong Whitworth locomotives and will sweep up the remaining pre-war engines. Part 4 will deal with the war-time and immediate post-war LMS batches leaving Part 5 for the Caprottis and the final LMS and BR-built locomotives. As we will discover, the Black 5s were not all the same – far from it . The story unfolds in an approximate chronological sequence, which makes sense – at least more sense than other approaches. So the books are arranged in the order in which the locomotives were introduced, with an added twist that particularly in matters such as boilers and tenders there is a certain amount of back and forward cross-referencing. Some details are covered in more depth in the earlier books and only summarised in the later parts.

Hardback 194 Pages



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IN STOCK

43000 - 43161

By Ian Sixsmith

When a class of engine is christened by enthusiasts ‘Doodlebugs’ or ‘Flying Pigs’, amongst a number of other less than admiring nicknames, there is an implication that the LMS Ivatt Class 4 2-6-0s were not the most admired of locomotives. Little has been written about them compared with their more glamorous brethren and it seems that in their early days there was some confusion about their purpose. They were the last steam design produced by the LMS and intended as a replacement for the 4F freight engines, but much of their time was spent on passenger work. They were quickly re-designated mixed traffic engines by their new British Railways owners and this book uses ‘4MTs’ as an appropriate short-hand for these 2-6-0s.

In their early days the 4MTs had something of a Jekyll and Hyde existence: although fitted with all the post-war labour-saving fixtures and equipped with well-intended creature comforts for the enginemen, there was obviously something amiss in their proportions because they were often chronically short of steam. It took several years and some Swindon magic to make a few simple but transformational changes to put them right. After that, they settled down and became widely travelled and generally well regarded, at least by railwaymen if not by enthusiasts. As is now standard in the Book of series a large chunk of the material by volume comes from the Engine History Cards and Engine Record Cards aided and abetted by information begged and borrowed from a number of sources, and backed up by a large number of photographs.

250 Pages, Hardback



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IN STOCK

In October 1993 Dennis Lovett was seconded by InterCity to work part time on the North London Line Modernisation Project as Communications Manager, joining the project team full-time when InterCity headquarters closed in March 1994. He suddenly found himself working on a piece of railway about which he knew very little and soon discovered that this was a line with a very complex history indeed. He found throughout his railway public affairs career that it was important to read up on lines such as this, in order to have the answers, so that when journalists and others asked the questions, he either knew the answer or where to find it in the quickest possible time!

He would often attend meetings or brief journalists about the project, when questions would inevitably be asked about the line’s past. The modernisation of the North London Line in the mid-1990s created a great deal of attention and in order to understand its future, it was necessary to get to grips with the past. Over the two years he worked on the project, such information was collated. It was not then the intention to produce a book but as the project passed to others, he was persuaded that the collected information should be placed before a wider audience. Little did he realise that when his day to day involvement with the project finished, that it would take so long to achieve the desired result or that it would continue to be of interest ten years after the first edition was published.

168 pages, Hardback



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NOW OUT OF PRINT (OOP)

By Allan C Baker

The Book of the Coronation Pacifics Mk2

New Improved

Upgraded, Amended. Even better value than ever.

The original Book of the Coronation Pacifics was overdue for yet another reprint but when all is said and done, it is a book that is more than a decade old. This updated, expanded and revivified version will delight both those who (unaccountably) managed to miss the original and those whose thirst for these magnificent locomotives can never be fully assuaged. Relative costs/prices mean that the 30-odd pages of introductory notes from the original volume are more or less free!



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IN STOCK

A secondary line wandering through rolling countryside bordered by brooding hills; obscure to modern minds but a substantial double track railway nonetheless, curving and twisting through the pleasant, rural, Alyn and Wheeler valleys, linking the Welsh county towns of Flintshire and Denbighshire with North West England. The Denbigh line was very good, they said, ‘but too good to last.’ Like so many, it certainly was.

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IN STOCK

A complex story that begins before the Battle of Trafalgar; the canals, industries, railways, political and commercial struggles and rivalries of this little known but fascinating corner of a little known but fascinating county, Staffordshire.

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NOW OUT OF PRINT (OOP)

NOW OOP

WAS REPRINTED BY POPULAR DEMAND

By Ian Sixsmith

Picture This

Since this book was published in 2002 The ‘Book Of’ series of locomotive studies has developed into something of a library devoted to more and more of the principal BR steam classes. A number of titles have sold out over and over, and have been reprinted or are in the process of being reprinted. The Book of the JUBILEE 4-6-0s sold out in 2004 and with the growing popularity of the series the demand has been to reprint this very popular class of locomotive.

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