John Thomas (1) (1914–1982)

This book tells the story of how the railway came to Springburn, a neighbourhood of Glasgow. It begins in the early days of steam locomotives and ends somewhere around the early 1960s, when the railway trade had dried up and diesel locomotives were the next big thing. It contains many colourful stories, some shocking, some sentimental, some flavoured with the author's own reminiscences. (I'm not about to forget the story of the driver who was killed on the Royal Train anytime soon...)

The book contains two pages of photos (one double-sided page) per chapter, and the occasional diagram. The photos were great, but the diagrams were not always useful. The book was targeted more toward an audience of experienced railway enthusiasts rather than dabblers such as myself. Configurations of locomotives and specifications of boilers are thrown about without definitions (although I was able to look up what the Whyte notation was, after the umpteenth statement referring to a certain engine as a 4-4-0, for instance), and tables are included with statistics that could be considered eye-wateringly dull. Fortunately, tables are easily skimmed over if they are not your bag. What could have been useful was a diagram of how the engines were run over the steep incline, where they were literally pulled along with ropes, or sketches of how the major accidents happened.

This is an interesting curiosity for people interested in railway history and Scottish railway history in particular, but it helps to have background knowledge of the subject already.… (mais)