The book starts with a short autobiography telling the story of his life in railway photos and reflecting on the important locations along the way. I've not seen this done before and yet it works very well - maybe Paul could start a trend, a bit like the Facebook timeline but properly edited and with interesting images ?
The rest of the book continues in a similar manner - the first 70 pages include a selection of the authors favourite journeys illustrated with dozens of pictures from various eras. It's strange how nostalgic BR rail blue looks now.
After this, there is the more familiar tour of the regions with sections in each for a mass of photos, information and more pictures of closed down lines, posters and ephemera (good word that) and finally railway postcards from the appropriate locale.
Between each region there is an off-topic selection. Staff, bridges, foreign travel, narrow gauge, incidents and eccentricities all feature.
I've been digging through previous volumes quite a bit recently looking for photos to assist in various projects and as such I've begun to spot odd images that have appeared in more than one volume. But in this book, they all appear to be new. I'm sure there must be the odd re-used picture but I haven't spotted one yet. Considering the shear volume of material in here, that's amazing.
As usual, photo reproduction is top quality and there is a proper index at the back. Page design is lively and interesting without getting in the way of seeing the pictures or losing captions. A book everyone can enjoy.
Buy Paul Atterbury's Railway Collection from the Hobby Warehouse.
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