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Title:Pre-Nationalisation Freight Wagons on British Railways - A Pictorial Survey Review image
Author:David Larkin
Publisher:D Bradford Barton, Truro
Format:Book
Subject:Wagons
Category:Photos
Spec:Softback, 8in x 8in, 64 pages, 120 B&W photos, ISBN: 0 85153 302 7
Publication date:1977
Summary:Some of the earliest books about wagons were a mainly pictorial series by Bradford Barton in the 1970s. This review covers the volume on pre-Nationalisation freight wagons on BR.
Review:David Larkin has written quite a few books on wagons over the years, and is currently part way through a major series covering the freight stock inherited by BR from the 'Big-Four' in 1948. However, he had already tackled this subject way back in 1977. I have long been aware of the series of books published by D Bradford Barton in the 1970s, but they are (perhaps unsurprisingly) quite hard to find. There were at least five titles, covering BR standard freight wagons, departmental stock, private-owner wagons, parcels rolling stock and pre-nationalisation wagons. I recently obtained a copy of the last of these, having discovered a treasure-trove of a second-hand bookshop quite near me in Falconwood.

This is a photos and captions book, with a single page of introduction text. The photos are reasonably large and (mostly) well reproduced, while the captions are full of information. What sets this book apart is that most of the photos were taken in the 1960s or early 1970s, when taking an interest in anything beyond locos was fairly unusual. Most wagon types seem to be covered, ranging from the common (coal hoppers, Minerals, Opens) to the unusual (Glass wagons, shunting trucks, sludge tenders). Having seen this title, I will now be on the look out for copies of the others.
Reviewed:07/03/2023 by Thomas Young (Comments made by others can appear in the notes section towards the bottom of this page)
Sample pages:(Click on any image to view full-sized in a new window)
Page image The titles all had covers to the same layout, with colour-tinting somewhat typical of books from the period.
Page image A single page of introduction sets the scene for the photos that follow.
Page image Photos are all large enough (2 per page) and almost all are of high quality. The captions give relevant details and the location and date of each photo is shown. Most wagon types are covered, including 'mundane' stuff like Minerals.
Page image The age of the photos if often apparent, as here with an (unmodified) cattle van, and overhead wiring at Hoo Junction visible beyond the Plate wagon below.
Page image Some of the types shown were familiar to me, having lasted into the 1980s (like the Coil G in the upper photo), while others I had never seen (like the impressive Flatrol WLL below).
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