ABC Rail Guide 2010
Author: Colin J Marsden
Publisher: Ian Allan Publishing (OPC), Marketing Department, 4 Watling Drive, Hinkley LE10 3EY. Tel: 01455 233747
ISBN: 978-0711034570
Pages: 304
Illustrations: 289 coloured photos plus 25 maps
Date: April 2010
Cover: hardback
Size: 210x148mm (A5) portrait
Price: £16.99
Index: superb
So many of us grew up with our treasured volumes of the ABC railway reference books, which seem to have ceased publication around 1990. By then, Platform 5 had taken over the reins and to this day have produced a very similar product. However, the ABC books are back - and in a completely different format, for the modern railway system. No longer are the locomotives and multiple units listed by class; now they are listed by operator. The book takes us through the train and freight operating companies, listing their motive power by class. In the case of the TOCs, there are maps showing the extent of their workings. There are many coloured photographs throughout the book which show livery variations and there is colour on every page.
Separate chapters cover infrastructure companies and their locos, train engineering companies, reconditioned loco suppliers, train builders, rolling stock hire companies, private train operators, loco support coaches, off lease rolling stock, preserved motive power and who operates it, UK exported locos, new train orders, steam engines with TOPS numbers for operating on the national network, ex-BR industrial locos, light rail operators and, finally, an index of every loco covered by the book telling the reader what page to turn to. This is a superb publication, which presumably will extend to new editions each year!
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