THE FFESTINIOG & WELSH HIGHLAND RAILWAY STOCKBOOK – everything that moves on the F&WHR

FFESTINIOG FINERY - THE FFESTINIOG & WELSH HIGHLAND RAILWAY STOCKBOOK – everything that moves on the F&WHR

The promise from I TRIED TO RUN A LITTLE RAILWAY was for the income to be used to fund the STOCKBOOK.  This has almost happened in 10 months of sales. So now we have a 336 page, A4 format STOCKBOOK that describes all that F&WHR has in locomotives, carriages and waggons.  There is a table – showing the lot. There are various sections, describing locos, carriages (old and new), waggons and ‘departmental’ rolling stock. This includes a piece on the history about each section of what rolls today. There has never been a more detailed description of all that the W&HR has.  The only snag is that pinpoint accuracy can never be attained, as the circumstances shift constantly. This only means that if this book sells well, updates will be needed. Note that the accent is on ‘today’ – if you want a historical account about what used to be, read Boyd.

The book is magnificent and colourful – packed full of information, with a large number of excellent photographs from many contributors. There are drawings, diagrams and maps of both Railways shown in the endpapers, so the reader can find the photo locations. Particular attention has been paid to design.

There are 14 Chapters in the book, covering locomotives: England, Hunslet, Fairlie, Garratt, ‘other’, and diesels. There are two chapters on Carriages: Victorian and Vintage, and Modern. Chapter 11 is on Waggons. Chapter 12 is the Stocklist proper, in the form of a table. Chapter 13 is an Appendix, with some original and valuable information in it: information of ‘why’ is addressed, and of driving Fairlies and Garratts.  Norman Bond and Glenn Williams expand on carriages and painting, and this explains a lot. Some fascinating speculation on the little-known horse tramway follows, along with the official F&WHR Permitted to Run notice. The Appendix ends with some drawings, notes on SAR Diamond Frame bogies, and the yards, Minffordd, Boston Lodge and Dinas.

50% of all the income goes straight back into the F&WHR, as although this is a Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland publication, Adlestrop Press has paid the printers bill and F&WHR doesn’t pay anything until the books are sold and invoiced.  So buying an F&WHR STOCKBOOK helps the FR Co.