The author of this book, Desmond Coakham, an acknowledged expert on Irish railway rolling stock on both the broad and narrow gauges, is unique among those who recorded the railways of Ireland in the 1950s and 60s, in that he did not concentrate solely on what was at the front of the train, he also turned his camera on the rolling stock behind the engine. His personal photographic collection, supplemented for this book by the work of others, contains a unique record of Irish steam age rolling stock.
Even though the last common carrier narrow gauge line, the West Clare section of CIE, closed in 1960, the Irish narrow gauge still holds an enduring appeal for railway enthusiasts and modellers to this day. Whilst a number of books have been published, many by Midland, in recent years on the narrow gauge railways of Ireland, none of these have focused on the fascinating range of rolling stock, both goods and passenger, which ran on these lines.
The Irish 3ft gauge lines were all promoted as independent companies and acquired their rolling stock from a large range of British manufacturers. Each system therefore, operated stock which was unique to itself. This ranged from relatively sophisticated bogie passenger carriages on the Cavan & Leitrim and County Donegal systems, to much more modest four and six wheel carriages on other lines. The goods stock was equally varied though one surprising fact, apparent from the book, is that a large proportion of Irish 3ft gauge goods wagons had continuous brakes decades before these were common on standard gauge stock elsewhere in the British Isles. Though there were exceptions, there was never much money to renew elderly stock and many lines soldiered on to the end of their existence, with rolling stock which had long ago seen its best days This book is in the familiar ‘Irish Railway Pictorial’ format and is illustrated throughout with black and white photos. It surveys the types of carriages and wagons, which were used on the Irish narrow gauge and, in addition to the photos, the book will contain a selection of scale drawings made by the author, a retired architect, which will provide detailed templates for those who are contemplating modelling the rolling stock used on these lines. This addition to the highly successful ‘Irish Railway Pictorial’ series will therefore appeal both those interested in the history of the Irish narrow gauge and those thinking of replicating parts of it.
Title: NARROW GAUGE ROLLING STOCK: An Irish Railway Pictorial
Author: Desmond Coakham
Format: PB 96 pages
Publisher: Ian Allan Ltd
Pub date: May 2007
ISBN 10: 0711031495
ISBN 13: 9780711031494
List Price: £14.99
