Railway writer and retired senior railwayman David Maidment has put together this detailed survey of the Southern Railway’s 0-6-0 tender freight locos.
The book starts with short biographies of the various loco engineers of the Southern Railway and its predecessor companies. This is followed by chapters on the locos of each of the SR’s three constituent companies: the London & South Western, London Brighton & South Coast and South Eastern & Chatham railways, and lastly those built after the 1923 Grouping for the SR itself: the Maunsell Q class and Bulleid Q1 class.
The book describes the design and construction, main technical features and areas of operation for each class of loco. Although the locos were built primarily for freight traffic they did occasionally work passenger trains, especially summer holiday services and secondary lines such as the Lymington branch and the Kent & East Sussex Railway, and thus there is a good mix of photos of the locos on shed and hauling freight and passenger trains. Some timings for passenger workings and railtours hauled by the locos in their final decades of service are also included, and at the back there are full fleet lists including depot allocations.
The photos mostly date from the 1950s and 1960s with a few from between the early 1900s and the 1930s also included. At the back there is a colour section featuring original postcards, 1960s colour photos, models of the locos, and latter-day views of the locos in preservation.
Hardback. 348 pages. Over 400 photos, mostly black & white.