Book Reviews

lateagain · Post by **lateagain** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 3:46 pm

Just An Idea, and correct me if it already exists, how about setting up a forum, or even just database, for members reviews of books.

I'm talking of Rail related books of course. Possibly extending this to Rail related Video's and DVD's.

There are some real gems out there at reasonable prices that would be of great help to modellers, route builders and re-skin artists. Thereâ€™s also a wealth of reminiscence stuff of interest to any rail fan.

Might even encourage younger fanâ€™s to realise that we all managed to communicate before the Internet! (Not just being a GOG here.) I do find that the sheer wealth of knowledge out there today leads youngsters to overlook more traditional media.

You could even â€œscoreâ€

jjules · Post by **jjules** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 5:14 pm

Now that's a good idea!

I've got a book on the Elan Valley Railway (got dug up in the 50s, maybe 60s

), and it's fantastic! Loads of great pictures, page upon page of useful information...It's brilliant, although I have yet to finish it!

Another great book I've got is The New Radnor Branch Line book. It was a GWR branch line, which was intended at one point to serve as part of a line from Worcester to Aberwysth (I can never get the name of that spelt right). However it was decided it was not financially viable. Mind you, the GWR didn't pay their share of the deposit anyway, and that was before they eventually got people out there to investigate it and do a CBA...The book is full of pictures that are great, and the information makes a great read! I was using it to base my model of the line in MSTS, but something went wrong with it and I gave up on it...

Elan Valley Railway book - I'd rate it 9/10 for useful and the variety of pictures.

The New Radnor Branch Line (only available in the local area) - 9.2/10 for the information and the great pictures in it.

lateagain · Post by **lateagain** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 7:09 am

jjules wrote

Now that's a good idea!

......so that's just you and me thinks so jj?

Perhaps I'll repost in some of the other sections. Maybe that'll get some more feedback?

Geoff

Post by **martinhodgson** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 1:07 pm

I like the idea, but I have no books I could review

jjules · Post by **jjules** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 10:15 pm

Chuck the thread into the General Discussion forum. Should get some interest then!

lateagain · Post by **lateagain** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 6:33 pm

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

As JJ suggested Iâ€™ve posted on MSTS General Discussion, Loco Modelling, Train Modellers, and MSTS Route Building.

Iâ€™ve asked that replies be made to this item on this forum so that we can see all comments.

In some ways the Forum has the advantage of being accessible to all as contributors, but the disadvantage that the â€œdatabaseâ€

jjules · Post by **jjules** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 12:09 pm

Sounds like a plan to me! I hate ISBN numbers, however. This is mostly because it's a string of numbers that that have very little useful in knowing them, but also because when I am on these forums, I do not usually have the book near me, so it can be difficult to mind-read a book some miles away...

Anyway, here's my little review of The New Radnor Branch Line, in the format suggested:

Title: The New Radnor Branch Line
Author: (oops, can't remember that)
Publisher: (Let me get back to you on that, could be Black Swan Publishing)
Availibility: In print, but not for that much longer
Available at: Castle Hill Books, Kington. Anywhere else; no idea.

Sorry the above is a bit poor, but that's the best I can do for now...

The book has a lot of useful history on the line, as well as detailing how the line was built, the hold-ups it had, as well as a fair bit of information on locomotives used and example timetables. This book has a lot of pictures in it where you can see for yourself what the line looked like, some of which you can use to see where the line would be now.

Usefulness to route builders: If you are going to build the route between Worcester and New Radnor via Leominste (when it was still there), you need a copy of this book, as it will give you station layouts, as well as giving you an idea of what the stations would look like back in the day that they were open.

Usefulness to anyone else: If you're into history, and railways, this book is fascinating. I used it merely to learn more details about what was my 'local line' (or at least it would have been if it was still in use), and to see some pictures of it. A few weeks later, after finding the book again, I went out with my mum's SLR camera, and took some pictures of Stanner (the station building is still there)'s station building and platform, as well as what was left at Dolyhir, now a quarry (or at least for only a few more years. The way they are going it will be empty soon). If the line had stayed up they could have used it to transport the loads...Still, commonsense doesn't exist in the rail industry it seems...

Overall I'd rate this book for anyone who is interested in the slightest about this route, or indeed about the rest of the line to Worcester. I'd give it a 9/10.

One more thing, I suggest a website is developed for book reviews, as this in my opinion is probably an easier way to find them...

Post by **NeutronIC** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 2:11 pm

The ISBN number is absolutely critical in making sure you find it - if you go to a book shop with a title then you have a remarkably lower chance of finding it than with an ISBN - if you have the ISBN they can usually very quickly say where it is, if it is something they can order or if it is out of print. So I would definitely agree with 'lateagain' to put the ISBN number in there.

Let's see what level of interest there is, every time I create a new forum I get a bundle of people renewing their (quite correct) complaints that there are too many forums.

Matt.

lateagain · Post by **lateagain** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 6:34 pm

JJ, That's Great, just the sort of thing I had in mind.

I have to admit that there's only been three or four positive responses so far and if you caught the hot water I immediately found myself in on the Loco Modelling Forum I think my idea is not as clearly "sold" as I'd thought it was.

Matt, As I said on the Loco Modelling Forum I was going to wait a few days to see if I got any more feedback and then contact you about the idea. At least one other member has volunteered to write a review. I'd like to write a full review of the book that originally inspired the idea so that people could see what I was really "on about". As I said on the other forum, I'm sure that the "hardcore" railfans amongst the Sim fans will already have their own libraries or research reference. They can't have uploaded so many great models without some sort of reference? There must be "newbies" out there who have become involved or inspired just through MSTS and sites like this.

I'll write my review and wait to hear from you about where best to post it. My point, as mentioned by JJ is that the effort is not much use if it becomes buried in irrelevance. Did you also catch my point about requests for info in my later post on the Loco Modelling Forum?

Let me know what you think.

Geoff.

jjules · Post by **jjules** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 6:41 pm

I'm glad you thought the review was satisfactory.

I must admit I haven't seen your thread in the Loco Modelling thread. I'll go and look for it.

Post by **NeutronIC** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 7:29 pm

Rather than a forum, what i'd rather have is a section of the site itself dedicated to this, i've been considering it too as I have a number of excellent resources for loco modellers myself.

Let's see what happens.

Matt.

lateagain · Post by **lateagain** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 12:01 am

Matt,

I think that's a great idea. Being newish to the forums I've been impressed with how willing to help people are, whilst being concerned at the sheer volume of input that there is to filter through.

I for one would be happy to submit reviews for inclusion on a site section.

If the review submitters agree to be contacted by e-mail they can answer specific questions about their reviews on a one to one basis.

If someone, you? I guess, is "editing" the section a degree of consistency could be sought in the presentation. As this is an area where second hand and out of publication material is involved it ought to be kept fairly "loose" for this material. Searches for out of print stuff are as much "intuitive" as factual. Second hand book dealers keep good databases and are generally really helpful. ISBN's may not help in this area but are, as you say, almost essential for locating stuff through libraries and ordinary bookshops.

It's an area where the "release date" of new material does not have the importance or priority that new add-ons have. A good book on any subject is a good book in or out of print and whatever the original publication date. Some of the best books I've acquired since my interest was aroused are alas out of print. They do turn up on e-bay, Amazon Z shops and many titles can be found just by typing them into Google, where many links to second hand dealers are well established.

All reviews are subjective. The reader soon forms their own opinion of whether or not they're on the same wavelength as a particular reviewer.

When I've written the review I'll mail it to you rather than post it and you can take it from there.

Geoff.

P.S. I'll copy it to those who thought it an OK idea and you can disect it, criticise it and add ideas accordingly.

jjules · Post by **jjules** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 2:24 pm

The idea of having it on the UKTS site is a very good idea.

I'd be more than happy to write a decent review or two.