Would you buy a book (or series of books) on Irish Railway Wagons?

[Bumble_Bee]

Hi folks, 

 

I am in the early stages of working though a book or series of books on Irish railway wagons and would appreciate some responses to see if its something people would be interested in. 

 

Its something I started as a bit of personal research, but seeing as there is currently no books on the market that deal with wagons specifically, maybe it is a gap peoples libraries that they would be interested in filling? 

 

Also, if anyone would like to, I'd love suggestions on what modellers would like to see in this type of book. I plan to have as many good quality photos and even drawings if I can, but would like other ideas/feedback. 

 

Thanks! 

 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Bumble_Bee

[David Holman]

Yes, absolutely! On this side of the water, there are specific wagon books for almost any railway you could choose. Not sure there is a single book of any sort simply devoted to Irish wagons.

 For me, there are two possible threads - modern wagons, that are increasingly well served by rtr models and the mostly four wheel types that go back to the birth of the railways.

 For any modeller of the 1950s or earlier, the latter would be really valuable, especially if there were portrait type photos, rather than trying to peer into the background of the usual three quarters view of trains going by. Side and end view drawings would be the icing on the cake, while adding numbering and livery details would be the cherry on top.

 As for what to include, much as unusual types can be interesting, the standard types from each of the main companies would be the most useful and valuable.

 I would definitely buy such a book.

[Noel]

Especially if it covered CIE, GSWR and MGWR wagons in detail

[Mike 84C]

I can only echo David's and Noel's comments. In those suggested formats I'm on board.

[Andy Cundick]

Bit of a no brainer Andy.

[Galteemore]

This is very exciting. I can see a series working best, as the subject is huge. As a starter, I’d suggest looking at a fairly small outfit. Plucking a name out of the air, SLNC? No personal axe to grind, of course 

 

[Bumble_Bee]

Thanks for the input so far folks! 

 

My plan is to do a series rather than a single volume, as it would very quickly become too large and probably expensive to buy. Here is my idea so far:

Book 1 - Broad gauge steam era (any wagon designed 1834 until 1970)

Book 2 - Broad gauge diesel era (any wagon designed from 1970 until 2020)

Book 3 - Narrow gauge and industrial wagons. (may include broad gauge private owner wagons here instead of book 1 depending on space) 

(Depending how large these 3 become, they may be split even further still, but I do not wish to do 1 book for every railway company as that would very quickly become overwhelming and there may not be enough to warrant a whole book on each individually) 

I aim to strike a balance between being historically informative enough for rail enthusiasts/historians to learn from, but also with enough specific details for modellers to make use of. 

Some books in my collection are either one or the other, great pictures and details with very little info about the stocks design or use, or else pictureless volumes with great information but no visualisations. The one book I feel strikes the best balance, and has been my main inspiration for starting this project is 'Locomotive Compendium, Ireland' by Colin Boocock.

In terms of what wagons will be covered, ideally I would like to include as many types as possible, but this will probably be restrained depending on what available information there is on each type.

I would love to do a full page per wagon, with line drawings, at least one good photo, a table of information (measurements etc) and a few paragraphs on the history. Of course quite sadly however, not all wagons that ever ran on irish rails have drawings/photos still existing. 

I also must clarify that at the moment this is in the very early stages and still a personal project, I do not yet have any publisher/editor etc and am doing this on my own with what I can find for the moment but when I have the idea formed into something more solid I will be taking it to the next level officially  

[David Holman]

Fantastic, sounds great!

[airfixfan]

In terms of the Narrow Gauge have now collected many photos of both the Lough Swilly and the County Donegal. In terms of the CDR using some unpublished colour photos of wagons and Van's for an article at present