Recommended books - 1960s to 1980s

[west_clare_wanderer]

Hi all.

I've just returned to the hobby and, in a quest to learn more, I wondered whether anyone could recommend the best books for photos of CIE from the 1960s onwards. My favourite time is the 'Supertrain' period, but I'm certainly interested more widely too. 

Are there some top titles I must hunt out?

Many thanks for reading this, and for any assistance you can provide. Apologies if it is too broad a question and/or if I've posted in the wrong place. 

Thank you and take care. 

David 

[Mol_PMB]

I can certainly recommend some books and I probably have over 200 Irish railway books in my collection to pick from! Have you a particular interest North/South, prefer colour images, etc?

But first, have you explored the Irish Railway Record Society Flickr albums? They have nearly 30,000 Irish railway photos, many from the 1960s and 1970s.

You have to be an IRRS member to view them, but the membership cost is perhaps the same as 2 or 3 books would cost, so in terms of price per photo you'll get a much better deal!

 

Also on Flickr, and free, Ernie has some great Irish albums with a few thousand photos at least: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/albums

 

[west_clare_wanderer]

12 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

I can certainly recommend some books and I probably have over 200 Irish railway books in my collection to pick from! Have you a particular interest North/South, prefer colour images, etc?

But first, have you explored the Irish Railway Record Society Flickr albums? They have nearly 30,000 Irish railway photos, many from the 1960s and 1970s.

You have to be an IRRS member to view them, but the membership cost is perhaps the same as 2 or 3 books would cost, so in terms of price per photo you'll get a much better deal!

 

Also on Flickr, and free, Ernie has some great Irish albums with a few thousand photos at least: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/albums

 

 

Thank you ever so much for your reply. I'm extremely grateful that you've taken the time to do so. 

Firstly, thank you for that link to Ernie's Flickr page. What an absolutely amazing resource! A very quick look has confirmed that I am going to lose many hours of my life down that rabbit hole! It looks like there are some absolutely fantastic albums in there. Exactly the kind of thing I was after. Thank you!

I'll definitely join the IRRS. As you say, at €50 a year, it looks like it provides a wealth of resources. The journal will be nice to receive too. 

I'm sorry for being so vague in my original post, I realise it hasn't really helped. In terms of interest, it's in the south. I'm trying to soak up as much inspiration as possible, but the lines radiating from Limerick are favourites. My family origins are in Kerry, Clare, and Cork, so I feel a pull to that area. I've always been fascinated with the western railway corridor too. And the Kilkenny line is another I like. 

Thanks again for being so helpful. I really appreciate it. 

David 

PS - I better not start looking at Ernie's Flickr page now, otherwise I won't make it into work today!! 

 

 

Edited May 16 by west_clare_wanderer
Added the PS.

[Mol_PMB]

Welcome to the forum and feel free to ask questions! I also have fond memories of the Limerick, Clare, Cork and Kerry areas, though from numerous holidays rather than living there.

Here are a selection of books which are predominantly picture albums, and which include the area and time period that you mention:

Some of these cover the whole island of Ireland, and the books covering the 1960s can over-represent the GNR and UTA/NIR because steam lasted longer there, so people took more photos. Nevertheless there are some nice southern photos in them too.

Others cover specific lines - the 'Rails Through...' series is excellent (though can be hard to get hold of): the photos are mostly the 1970s-1990s period so some may be a bit late for you.

The 'Railways in Ireland' series are a mix of text and pictures, rather than just a picture album. They're geographically focused though - there are 4 volumes in total.

Of course there are also many superb books which are more focused on the history of each line, predominantly text and many of the pictures in them tend to be earlier than your preferred period. I haven't shown those, but if you're interested then Ernie Shepherd has written some nice ones including (in your area) those on the WL&WR and CB&SCR, while Alan O'Rourke wrote a book on the North Kerry.

 

Most of these books are out of print but available secondhand online.

 

 

[David Holman]

The Keith Pirt book is especially good as all the pictures are full page and therefore give lots of detail for everything from weathering, through wider landscapes to buildings and even clothing of the time.

[west_clare_wanderer]

9 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Welcome to the forum and feel free to ask questions! I also have fond memories of the Limerick, Clare, Cork and Kerry areas, though from numerous holidays rather than living there.

Here are a selection of books which are predominantly picture albums, and which include the area and time period that you mention:

Some of these cover the whole island of Ireland, and the books covering the 1960s can over-represent the GNR and UTA/NIR because steam lasted longer there, so people took more photos. Nevertheless there are some nice southern photos in them too.

Others cover specific lines - the 'Rails Through...' series is excellent (though can be hard to get hold of): the photos are mostly the 1970s-1990s period so some may be a bit late for you.

The 'Railways in Ireland' series are a mix of text and pictures, rather than just a picture album. They're geographically focused though - there are 4 volumes in total.

Of course there are also many superb books which are more focused on the history of each line, predominantly text and many of the pictures in them tend to be earlier than your preferred period. I haven't shown those, but if you're interested then Ernie Shepherd has written some nice ones including (in your area) those on the WL&WR and CB&SCR, while Alan O'Rourke wrote a book on the North Kerry.

 

Most of these books are out of print but available secondhand online.

 

 

 

That's absolutely fantastic.  Thank you so much for helping. I think ebay and Amazon are going to be my friend for a little while! 

The "Rails Through..." books look excellent. It seems some of them are available online. I think I'll prioritise some of them for starters. "The West" and "North Kerry" ones could be particular relevant. 

I've come across Martin Bairstow and this books before. So I know they will be good reads. They might also be good at covering a larger geographic area. 

I'm definitely interested in the history, and not just photos, so I'll keep an eye out for those authors you have suggested. 

Thank you again for being so helpful. I don't take it for granted. 

 

9 hours ago, David Holman said:

The Keith Pirt book is especially good as all the pictures are full page and therefore give lots of detail for everything from weathering, through wider landscapes to buildings and even clothing of the time.

Thanks very much David. One to add to the wishlist.  

[west_clare_wanderer]

I've started to make some inroads on this. I've ordered three of the five Martin Bairstow books initially to get up to speed with my history. I've started volume one and am already learning a lot. As a slight aside, one slight thing is the continuous use of "Londonderry" rather than Derry. Although this is obviously correct for the early years of railway history, including in the names of some of the railway companies themselves, it is amazing how jarring it is nowadays. 

Anyway... next on the list are a a few of the 'Rails Through.....' series. But they will have to wait until the next payday, as IRM have cleared me out of all my money

Again, thank you to everyone for your recommendations. 

Edited June 7 by west_clare_wanderer

[west_clare_wanderer]

First lot of books have arrived... This is going to keep me out of mischief!!

Roll on next payday so I can get some more

 

 

[Tractionman]

That's a good haul ^^^

I can definitely recommend the "Rails Through..." series, especially if you have 1970s/1980s interests, lovely colour photos and some very useful station track diagrams.

[Westcorkrailway]

Personally I would reccomend being an IRRS member as not only will you have access to more photos then you’d ever have with books by a factor of 100, but - The various journals going back might be come available on the new website they have set for release soon ish 

[Mol_PMB]

https://ebay.us/m/gktWWE
 

if you haven’t found one yet

[jhb171achill]

A fifth "Rails Through...." is currently in progress. It will be somewhat more detailed in the historical aspect, but will contain some 190 illustrations, in this case covering Wexford to Harcourt St & Amiens St. The rough draft is done, and most of the pictures selected. It will include several photos of the Shillelagh branch, often quite camera-shy, but these are older, and black & white, as the very last section of it (to Aughrim Mill) closed finally in 1953. As for the North Kerry and West titles, one is now out of print and the other only very low numbers with the publisher, but Tipperary and Wexford are still available from the publisher. Glad you liked them!

[Niles]

Michael Baker did Irish Railways Past & Present  and Irish Railways Past & Present: Dublin in the mid 1990s. they've been updated once or twice since. A nice selection of images during that period. He also did a Bradford Barton volume in the 70s (I got a copy as a child in the 90s, the 'new' stock mentioned in the book was the mk2ds of 1972!). I don't think they're too hard to come by on the second hand market. Colin Boocock's Irish Railways: 40 Years of change 1956-1996 is another 90s title with plenty of images from your period, and there's a bit of a narrative to it.

Colm O'Callaghan's Irish Traction: Iarnród Éireann is a great volume, thought might be a little late for your period.

As as been pointed out, past IRRS Journals and their Flickr page are a treasure throve.