150 Years of Manx Railways by Barry Edwards and Richard Kirkman

 

I so nearly entitled this post, "The best Isle of Man book in the world, ever." The only reason I didn't is for Google's benefit. 

But, it's true. My father and I own a lot of books covering Mona's Isle. Mainly railways, but a few on other island realted topics. So many, that there are a few examples of duplicates because we have different editions. Even, most of the oddball pamphlets are on the shelf. We are that nerdy about it all. 

When a new book comes out, we'll buy it unseen. Spotting this one on Facebook (I think), I expected nothing more than a book of pretty photos. This would have been fine, but that's not what landed. 

Starting with the basics: A4. Hardback. 192 glossy pages. Both monochrome and colour photos. 

The thing that marks this book out as different, is the scope. Inside you don't just find the existing railway and tramway systems, the authors have gone to the trouble of researching those that long ago vanished into history, and one that didn't happen at all. 

So, we have The Knockaloe Branch, Port Erin Breakwater Railway, Corrins Hill Tramway, Glenfaba Brickworks Railway, Cunningham Camp Escalator, Poortown Quarry Tramway and many others. All in 26 different lines. Some warrant a single page, others a lot more. To be honest, many are little known and there are very few photos available. 

The IoM is well covered by literature, but apart from a single listing in the Manx Steam Railway News, I have never seen such a comprehensive selection. There are railways in here I didn't know about, and some that I will one day seek out on a visit to the island. In terms of potential modelling subjects, there's plenty of options on offer, all of which won't be touched by the RTR boys!

Opening with an overview of the islands transport systems, which includes some very well-drawn maps, we quickly move on to each in turn, starting with the steam railway. Photos seems to span the years well, obviously there are plenty of modern shots because these will have been taken digitally, and are easy to source and use. Lots of other though, and all are well-reproduced, perhaps with a touch too much HDR, but not enough to worry. 

At the back there is a stock list covering all lines as well as possible. Early lines are tricky as records aren't that great, but I'd be hard pushed to argue with the authors efforts. 

If you like the Isle of Man, or just love unusual transport sytems, this needs to be on your bookshelf.