Chris Veitch
Western Thunderer
It's not entirely railways and it's certainly not modelling, but I'm very much enjoying "The Master of These Marvels", a new biography of George Stephenson from the R&CHS. I've always found their books to be beautifully produced, impeccably researched and good value for money and this one's no exception. I've not read a great deal about Stephenson Snr. other than Rolt's biography which is remiss of me since I'm surrounded by his works - I worked less than a mile from one of his homes for half my career and my regular cycle routes take in parts of the pioneering Hetton Colliery Railway.
It's a thoroughly researched book with extensive references as you'd expect from this source, but it's by no means dry and features both references to the family contribution to the future railway system and intriguing details of daily life (such as a description of the bacon and bread lunches that he took with him when surveying the S&DR). It's not an engineering history as such but contains plenty of detail covering the technical development of very early railways and the larger contracts that he moved onto in later life. One of most prominent aspects of the book is that he comes across as not the blunt but wily Northumbrian using local simple ingenuity, but an insightful man with both a wonderful sense of scientific curiosity and a keen eye for business. Heartily recommended.
It's a thoroughly researched book with extensive references as you'd expect from this source, but it's by no means dry and features both references to the family contribution to the future railway system and intriguing details of daily life (such as a description of the bacon and bread lunches that he took with him when surveying the S&DR). It's not an engineering history as such but contains plenty of detail covering the technical development of very early railways and the larger contracts that he moved onto in later life. One of most prominent aspects of the book is that he comes across as not the blunt but wily Northumbrian using local simple ingenuity, but an insightful man with both a wonderful sense of scientific curiosity and a keen eye for business. Heartily recommended.