Hydraulics in the West

The title may sound like a supplies catalogue, but it is another of Ian Allan's pictorial railway albums, the subject being the diesel-hydraulic locomotives used on British Railways Western Region, the successor to the GWR, which like the GWR, followed independent ideas, and was the only region to use diesel-hydraulics when elsewhere diesel-electrics were used.  The hydraulics consisted of six classes - 22, 35, 41, 42, 43 and 52, but there were another three subtypes.  In popular parlance, names used included the "Westerns", the "Hymecks" and the "Warships"; the latter were based on the V200 class of the West German railways.

There isn't much technical information, but as the compiler comments, there have been previous books about them, and in today's "instant sound bite" age, you can't help wondering if all people want anyway are pretty pictures with info that can be digested in a minute. 

The book covers the period 1958-1972 and, as can be expected, some of the photos are rather grainy or otherwise a bit poxy and wont suit NZ Railfan types who expect everything to look like it was taken yesterday with high quality equipment, but for most people they should be quite acceptable.  The compiler says has has given priority to unusual locations including now closed or rebuilt lines.

For those into the first generation diesel era, this should be a worthwhile book. 96 pages in 240 x 170 mm format, hardcover.