Books, videos and other items for possible review should be sent to: The Railway Magazine, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, LincsLN9 6JR

Sulzer Power! North Wales & Cambrian Lines

By Steve Morris

IT’S a constant source of wonder that new books continue to appear featuring dozens, if not hundreds, of high quality, previously unpublished railway images.

This new landscape format album by Steve Morris on behalf of the Class 40 Preservation Society (CFPS) is a great example of that phenomenon.

Bringing together a superb selection of images taken in North Wales and on the Cambrian Lines between the early 1960s and the present day, it focuses on Sulzer-powered diesels of Classes 24, 25, 33, 44-46 and 47. While some of these classes had a long association with the lines featured, others were more fleeting – most notably No. 44008 Penyghent making a brief foray into North Wales with a farewell railtour in 1978.

Five chapters cover passenger, freight and parcels, depot portraits, railtours and test trains, the latter being a common sight on the North Wales coast into the 1990s. The images cover a wide selection of train types, particularly in the freight chapter, where various long-lost traffic flows and industrial locations are featured.

The overall quality and reproduction of the images is excellent and each one is supported by a detailed caption providing information on the locomotive, train and location. Many of the locations featured will be familiar to diesel enthusiasts, even if you are not native to the region. However, many others were new to this reviewer, highlighting the extensive heavy industry that existed in North Wales until the 1980s and the trains that served it.