A new LNER book

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Darwin4975
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A new LNER book

Post by Darwin4975 »

Published very recently, 'The Glorious Years of the LNER by John Ryan is a hardcover 256 page A4 sized book with stiff card (garter blue) boards and a very attractive paper dust jacket. This is more in the old printing style than the laminated cover books that are commonplace these days.

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It is lavishly illustrated with over 400 captioned photographs (b/w and colour) which are laid out with one, two (or occasionally three) to each page. Topics covered include LNER Road Vehicles (10 pages, 17 photos), LNER carriages (62 pages,104 photos), LNER wagons (16 pages, 39 photos) but the bulk of the book is devoted to Locomotives of the LNER. Some of the captions provide detailed information, for example, about how and why the various Leeds stations came into being, and details of the the 'double-E' type of superheater originally fitted to P1 2-8-2 NO 2394, which was claimed to be capable of heating steam to an impressive 700 degrees Fahrenheight. (In practice, it did not and was replaced with the standard Robinson design) Some other captions are somewhat less informative and could have been profitably expanded into available space on the page.

The locomotives are covered in action and at rest from the lineside, at sheds, stations and workshops at locations covering much of the LNER territory in the years 1923-47. Some interesting wartime scenes are included -for example Queen Elizabeth (the present Queen's mother) being informally photographed in 1941 chatting to a female mill operator at Doncaster Works, with Sir Ronald Matthews and A H Peppercorn in the background.

Although laid out in Sections, there is no Contents page or Index which makes this a picture book to be dipped into, but interesting to historians and modellers nonetheless.

The photographs come from a variety of sources, including Rail Archive Stephenson. Some of the RAS images include copyright details on the photographs themselves as well as at the end of the captions which is somewhat over cooking the goose, but others from the RAS archive do not have copyright details printed on the image. Presumably there is a reason for this but I cannot think of one.

The book is laid out carefully with very few cropping errors. Apart from a small loss of the portion of a buffer and a letter or two from an embedded RAS copyright notice I saw nothing significant, and no spelling or grammatical errors which are a pet hate of mine.

At £27.50 each post free (or £25 for two purchased together) this is an impressive book printed on high quality glossy paper at an attractive price compared with the current cost of monthly magazines. Recommended.

Copies can be ordered direct from the publishers, Great Northern Books Ltd, P O Box 1380, Bradford BD5 5FB, Tel 01274 735056, or visit https://www.gnbooks.co.uk
Pyewipe Junction
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by Pyewipe Junction »

I've ordered this, and I'm sure I will enjoy it.

Much as I like to see photos of locos, rolling stock etc, as I get older I find I'm becoming more interested in the 'behind the scenes' activity as well - budgetting, planning, organisational structrures and so on. I realise these won't appeal to many people, but is there any literature that covers them (not just LNER - it would be interesting to compare the LNER with the other three).
Hatfield Shed
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by Hatfield Shed »

You and I both. Geoffrey Hughes' 'LNER' (pub. Malaga/Ian Allan) includes a tip of the iceberg overview of the economic side, probably about as much as a title for popular consumption can carry.
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greenglade
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by greenglade »

Thanks for the heads up, duly ordered here too... ty


Pete
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greenglade
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by greenglade »

BTW, there is a code given that if applied you get £2.50 off.... it worked for me.

regards

Pete
kudu
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by kudu »

Pyewipe Junction, I don't know whether you've come across Michael Bonavia's "The Four Great Railways" (David & Charles 1980). It's a brief but quite wide description of the Big Four (eg there's an appendix on "The Irish enclave"). It certainly includes the way the companies organised themselves, even if it doesn't go into much detail. I think it's well organised, well written and worth reading imo even if much covers familiar ground.

Kudu
65447
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by 65447 »

Pyewipe Junction wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2022 4:34 am Much as I like to see photos of locos, rolling stock etc, as I get older I find I'm becoming more interested in the 'behind the scenes' activity as well - budgeting, planning, organisational structures and so on. I realise these won't appeal to many people, but is there any literature that covers them (not just LNER - it would be interesting to compare the LNER with the other three).
You will do no worse than obtain a copy of Cecil J Allen's The London & North Eastern Railway, Ian Allan 1966. CJA was a professional employee of the GER then the LNER, with a roving brief, an interest in all matters railway-related, compiler of much of the content of The Railway Year Book, and contributor to contemporary journals and magazines.

In most respects, the LNER was much the same as any other large company, with a chairman, board of directors, various committees, shareholders, but a more devolved management and accounting structure akin to the divisions of a company than, say, the LMS. It's business was transporting passengers and freight efficiently and at a profit, but within the undue constraints of government regulation, political interference, economic dogma, changing policies, and for a long time unrestrained competition from road transport.

Kudu mentions Michael Bonavia, who also worked for the LNER in senior management and wrote A History of the LNER in three-parts. This has insights but is quite shallow on detail; Geoffrey Hughes book is more incisive and concise if brief, and has the benefit of being able to apply later corrections to earlier recorded events, the best example being the real facts behind the appointment of HNG as CME.
S.A.C. Martin

Re: A new LNER book

Post by S.A.C. Martin »

Kew Gardens, National Archives, has the full LNER Board Minutes from 1923-48, and the locomotive committee minutes from a similar time frame, under file RAIL 390 and 394. I have my own digitised copies (over 8000 photographs taken) that are by no means light reading!

The primary evidence should always be your first port of call. In this case we have an abundant treasure trove of reports, discussions and decisions played out in real time, signed off by the board and with all of the major players (including, but not limited to, CMEs, finance departments, civil servants and more) lending their views and approving expenditure and projects for the LNER.

In my opinion, Michael Bonavia's work is the best secondary source overview on what actually happened on the LNER and how things played out. There is a three part series he wrote on the LNER that is probably better in that regard, as it happens - "A History of the LNER".

Neither Hughes nor Allen really go into the details of how the company actually operated. There's a wide array of speculation, particularly focusing on locomotives and locomotive design, without grasping the economics and practicalities of running a railway.
Mickey
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by Mickey »

Ian Alan published three hardback books covering the LNER back in the early 1970s and from memory were called The LNER Album which I bought at the time of it's publication around 1970 (the cover photo/painting(?) featuring the A4 Silver Link hauling the Down Silver Link storming Belle Isle) followed about a year or two later by The LNER Album Vol.2 and finally possibly around the mid 1970s The LNER Album Vol.3 which I assume all three books are long since out of print. I never bought Vol.2 or Vol.3 but from vague memory of flicking through The LNER Album Vol.3 just after it was published I think it featured mainly photographs from the North Eastern and the Scottish areas. All photographs in all three albums were in black & white with a brief text. My original copy of the first LNER Album was 'lost' over 40 years ago.
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jwealleans
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by jwealleans »

I have all 3 and make use of them regularly. Volume 1 was the best but all 3 are packed with useful pictures.
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greenglade
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by greenglade »

To those who have ordered this book from GN, have you had any response from the seller re dispath? All I've had so far is an auto message saying they had received the order and it was processing, in this day and age most companies get the order out in a couple of days or at least let the buyer know the order's status?

Kind regards

Pete
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greenglade
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by greenglade »

Scrub that last post, the book arrived safely a short while ago...:)

Pete
Mickey
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Re: A new LNER book

Post by Mickey »

jwealleans wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:57 am I have all 3 and make use of them regularly. Volume 1 was the best but all 3 are packed with useful pictures.
When I bought The LNER Album hardback book back in 1970 from memory a couple of pages in from the front there is a picture of Wood Green Down Tunnel Box that I didn't know nothing about until I saw that picture so it just goes to show something about learning railway stuff from railway books. It is a pity that Ian Alan didn't re-print all the 'Album books' in recent years (probably in cheaper softback re-prints?) as I would have liked to have seen them all again and to buy them before there shop in Waterloo's Lower Marsh was closed in late 2020.
Original start date of 2010 on the LNER forum and previously posted 4500+ posts.
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