OFF THE SHELF
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Forgotten Steam
Photographs by Nick Nicolson, compiled by Ron White (hardback, 80pp, Totem Publishing, ISBN 978-1-913893-11-8, £16.50 + £1 p&p, cheques payable to Transport Treasury Publishing, 16 Highworth Close, High Wycombe HP13 7PJ).
THE title of this publication is a bit of a misnomer, writes Geoff Courtney. It doesn’t refer to the steam that has been forgotten but features, albeit not exclusively, locomotives on lines that were destined for closure. As compiler Ron White elucidates: “Was a more curious picture book offered to any wondering purchaser? No A1/A3/A4, no Princess Royal/Royal Scot/Patriot, no MN/Schools, no Grange/Manor, no Britannia/Clan/5MT/9F. And yet it shows the real life of the 1950s, the odd corners which would have no future.”
Ron, who lives in Chesham and admits to “now rising 90,” is rather more than purely the compiler – he is the warm-up comedian, front-of-house and compere rolled into one.
He explains on the back cover that he has long been associated with railways but was never an official part of them, admitting: “It’s amazing what I got away with; not many insurance men have had hold of an A4 on an Aberdeen-Glasgow (although I did have a pass for that), or regularly fired and
