I'd assumed this was a book aimed at kids. It's certainly looks like it. Open the cover however, and it's a lot more than that.
It's actually a mine of information. Fancy an explanation of super-elevation? Page 22.
Cab layout of a steam locomotive? Page 34
Loading gauge diagram for Queensland Railways? Page 31, next to a set of Indian loading gauges.
There's a lot of history in here too, along with some nice line drawings of all sort of rolling stock and locomotives. The cover promised "over 750 illustrations" and I see no reason to doubt them.
The test includes chapters on "The Problems of Electrification", two chapters on gas turbine locos, passenger and freight rolling stock, a very detailed explanation of the inner workings of a steam loco complete with diagrams of the safety valve and mechanical lubricator.
All, good, solid stuff. Publish this today in a larger format, and adult enthisiasts would lap it up. It just seems odd that this quality of info is put into a little book, apparenlty aimed at kids. Sadly, nowhere on the 286 pages is there a date of publication, but I'd assume it comes from the days when kids wore their school uniform all the time including caps!
Hi Phil. A brilliant little book. I've had a copy for years. I also have the "Dumpy book of aircraft and the air" that I've had since the mid-sixties. Someone recently gave me a copy of the "Dumpy book of cars and commercial vehicles" and that has a copyright date of 1960 on the title page. It's probably fair to assume they're all contemporaries.
ReplyDeleteYes, Phil, your date estimate is correct. I still have my copy, with all the pages, from when I was at Junior School in the mid to late 1950s. It is indeed a mine of information, from what I know about still accurate too. One of my treasures!
ReplyDeleteAll the best, Grahame
As a kid there seemed to ba quite a few of these sorts of books around, though usually out of print even then. Much better than the dumbed-down ones well-meaning relatives still buy us at Xmas that go straight to the charity shop. I guess that the kids most interested in them back then will now be buying, or reading online, projects for the Raspberry Pi.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to forget that children, to some degree, learn from the adults around them. If your family were railway workers, aircraft builders, etc you would tend to gravitate to these sorts of books, and read Look and Learn.
I was going to say "The Dumpy Book of Service Management" doesn't sound as interesting, but some people who know me would point out it is what I frequently do contribute to. It just doesn't seem to appeal to children for some reason.
My daughter, who'd shown little interest in what I do for a living, was embarrassed at twenty-five, to discover a video she was watching about the IT industry featured an interview with me.
Hi Phil. According to the entry in the British Library Catalogue, your book was published in 1956. http://search.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=BLL01009650906&indx=1&recIds=BLL01009650906&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&frbg=&&dscnt=0&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BNB%29&mode=Basic&vid=BLBNB&srt=rank&tab=local_tab&vl(freeText0)=The%20Dumpy%20Book%20of%20Railways%20of%20the%20World&dum=true&dstmp=1666607536339
ReplyDeleteThe dimensions match, though the thickness is measured in pages rather than mm. I don't think books are usually catalogued for their camera stand properties. ;)
Mark
The Belgian diesel in the 4th picture was delivered from 1954 so some point after that.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Railways_Class_59
Luke
My Dumpy Pocket Book of Aircraft and Flight has a copyright date of 1960 on the title page. Price 5/-,
ReplyDelete