lamdha books -
Catalogue of books on antipodean trains and tracks

Click on the small images at right to see a larger picture

214173 Belbin, Phil, & David Burke Full Steam Across the Mountains Methuen Australia Pty. Ltd., Sydney NSW, 1982. Reprint: quarto; hardcover; tan boards with white spine titling and endpaper maps; 144pp., with full-colour and monochrome photographic illustrations. Minor wear; board corners lightly scraped; toning and faint spotting to the text block edges. Very good to near fine. Wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Rails were the path and steam was the goliath that conquered the Blue Mountains making the rich western plains accessible. Puffing up the famous zigzags, thundering along the ridges, sending billowing clouds of smoke up against the clean mountain sky, frantically recharging air brakes on treacherous downgrades, for nearly ninety years the iron horse was supreme. One of the greatest achievements of nineteenth century engineering was the building of Australia's loftiest and steepest mainline. The line across the Blue Mountains was the greatest construction challenge the country had yet faced and in an age when shovel, wheelbarrows, picks and sheer brute force were the tools used, the achievement is astounding. John Whitton, an engineering genius, was the man responsible for elevating the line from the coastal plain to the plateau of the mountains and then bringing the trains down again. Despite almost overwhelming odds - political, financial and topographical - he succeeded. This is the story of his achievement. Click here to order $35

213779 Bromby, Robin Rail Preservation in Australia Cromarty Press, Sydney, 1983. Landscape octavo stapled paperback; 96pp., b&w illustrations. Mild edgewear with scraping. Very good to near fine. Click here to order $15

82686 Burke, David Great Steam Trains of Australia: signed copy Rigby, Adelaide, 1978. Inscribed quarto hardcover, 160pp., mainly monochrome illustrations. Board edges and corners rubbed and scraped; dustwrapper moderately worn along edges and corners with tears on head of spine and upper rear edge, some scuffing. Very good in good dustwrapper (now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive archival film and white paper backing). The author traces the development of the locomotives that hauled the expresses, from the underpowered puffing billies of the 1880s with their open cabs and tall driving wheels, through the advent of the heavy engines of the 1900s. He tells of the speeds these engines clocked, the big trains they hauled, and the well-known towns they raced through. He describes the confusion at the break-of-gauge terminals, the hassles at the ticket offices, and the crowding at the refreshment rooms. He portrays the sweating engine crews, the porters, and the stationmasters in their braided caps and brass buttons. Click here to order $40

213726 Burke, David Kings of the Iron Horse A.E. Smith & F.J. Shea Methuen Australia Pty. Ltd., North Ryde NSW, 1985. Octavo; hardcover, full cloth with decorative endpapers; 248pp., with 32pp. of monochrome plates and other illustrations likewise. Mild wear; text block top edge lightly dusted; some minor rust stains to the front endpapers. Dustwrapper a little rubbed and edgeworn; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Laid in: promotional material from the publisher and a clipped newspaper review. Across a space of eighty memorable years, some 3300 steam locomotives were built in Australia for this country's railways. Few other products of our heavy industry could compare at the time with these steam engines for their sheer 'Australianess'. Their design and construction by Australian engineers and artisans represents a fascinating phase of the nation's industrial and social history. Alf Smith and Fred Shea were two of the men who made these iron horses. Theirs was a lifelong friendship that began with a teacher-pupil relationship in the grimy, deafening workshops where the metal to build the locomotives was beaten out. Both rose to the supreme office of C.M.E - Chief Mechanical Engineer. Alf began with the Victorian Railways of the turbulent 1880s, advancing from apprentice to draftsman to self-taught engineer. Fred Shea belonged to a later generation that would ultimately scrap the beloved steam machine and usher in the diesel-electric age. In the years between lay a great locomotive adventure, one in which some of Australia's largest, grandest, most powerful steam engines took to the rails. Both men left the mark of their achievement on Australia's railway systems, on workshop practice, and in their contribution to transport on the very fabric of national growth. The classic engines for which they were responsible in the stirring age of steam truly earned them the title, 'Kings of the Iron Horse'. Click here to order $22

9991 Grunbach, Alex Locomotives of New South Wales 1855-1980 Volume I Railway Historical Society, 1981. Octavo paperback; 120pp., b&w illustrations. Minor wear; mild spotting to text block and page edges. Very good. Click here to order $18

42895 Gunn, John Along Parallel Lines A history of the railways of New South Wales 1850-1986 Melbourne University Press, Carlton Vic., 1989. Octavo; hardcover, full cloth boards with gilt spine titling and endpaper maps; 581pp., with maps and 24pp. of monochrome plates. Mild wear; a little cocked; spine heel softened; text block top edge dusted. Dustwrapper a little edgeworn; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $35

213761 Knowles, J.W. Lonely Rails in the Gulf Country The author, Brisbane, 1983. Octavo paperback; 76pp., b&w illustrations. Minor wear; mild scattered spotting to cover versos; rubbed covers and slight wear to edges. Very good. Click here to order $18

65915 Langdon, Mark Conquering the Blue Mountains Eveleigh Press, Matraville NSW, 2006. Quarto; hardcover, with illustrated boards and endpapers; 147pp., monochrome plates and a folding map. Minor wear only; near fine in like dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. The first railway in New South Wales was opened in September 1855 between Sydney and Parramatta with the intention that it would be extended to Goulburn in the south and across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst in the west. The mountains had seemed an impenetrable barrier and initial reactions were that the building of a line was impracticable. Surveys however identified a suitable route and in 1863 work commenced. The author documents the planning and construction, the many difficulties encountered and the innovative solutions effected. The book includes many photographs of trains, locations and the personalities involved. Click here to order $50

204208 McCarthy, K. The Corrimal Colliery Railway Light Railways Number 60, April 1978 The Light Railway Research Society of Australia, Upper Ferntree Gully Qld., 1978. Octavo; stapled booklet; 44pp., with maps and many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; covers lightly rubbed; text block edges lightly spotted. Very good. Click here to order $15

207513 McDonald, Keith Steel and Rails in Newcastle Light Railway Research Society of Australia, Surrey Hills Melbourne Vic., 1981. Quarto; paperback; 118pp., with maps, diagrams and many monochrome illustrations. Moderate wear; covers well rubbed and scuffed. Else very good. Click here to order $23

213766 Merchant, Rick Railway Album Number 2: signed NSW Transport Museum, Burwood, 1995. Octavo stapled paperback; 40pp., b&w illustrations. Signed by the author. Mild wear to cover edges and corners with some small scrapes and tiny crease and bump on lower rear edge, indistinct crease on front panel; otherwise very good to near fine. Click here to order $15

213767 Merchant, Rick Railway Album Number 3 - signed NSW Transport Museum, Burwood NSW, 1996. Octavo stapled paperback; 40pp., b&w illustrations. Inscribed to owner by the author. Mild wear to cover edges and corners; otherwise near fine. Click here to order $15

96355 Newland, John R. The Goondah-Burrinjuck Railway Australian Railway Historical Society - NSW, 1994. Quarto paperback; 128pp., monochrome illustrations and diagrams. Inscription. Minor wear only; near fine. Click here to order $25

63154 Stark, R. John The Return of Steam Locomotive C17, N0. 45 The Degener Timms Publications, Gympie Qld., 2000. Quarto hardcover, 120pp., with colour and monochrome plates. Near fine copy in like dustwrapper. For three years locomotive No. 45 sat on the Gympie Railway Workshops No.9 Outer Loop Line, then she was stripped of all brass and working parts and placed in a park for sixteen years. After her rescue and removal to the Gympie & District Historical Society Inc. it was considered 'nigh to impossible' to restore. The story shows how eight men over a period of five years and two days accomplished the impossible. Click here to order $30

93984 Various 150 Years of Rail in NSW: Souvenir Booklet NSW Rail Transport Museum, Redfern, nd. Quarto hardcover; green boards with gilt spine titling and illustration pasted on upper board; 64pp., colour and monochrome plates. Minor wear only; near fine. Booklet has been rebound in plain green cloth with gilt titles on the spine. The card cover has been pasted to the front board. Click here to order $45

213778 Various Steam Album First and Second Divisions: Two volumes The New South Wales Transport Museum, Sydney, 1968. Two octavo stapled paperbacks; unpaginated with b&w illustrations. Owner's name in each. Well-rubbed covers with spotting on rear panels with small chips on heads and tails of spines, edgewear with light scraping along spines; a few internal spots. Very good. Click here to order $30

90376 Ward, Andrew (Rennie Ellis, illus.) Railway Stations of Australia Macmillan Company of Australia Pty. Ltd., Artarmon NSW, 1982. Quarto; hardcover, with decorated endpapers; 86pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; light softening to the spine extremities; random spotting to the preliminaries; previous owner's ink inscription to the verso of the flyleaf. Mild edgewear and spotting to the dustwrapper (now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film). Very good. The fantastic and practical, the extravagant and economical, the classical and neo-Gothic, the grandiose and the purely functional are among the railway stations recorded here. In its day the refreshment stops were eagerly anticipated not only for want of sustenance offered but for the opportunity to punctuate the journey. There would be a rush to the refreshment counter, or a drink at the bar; one could walk up front to the locomotive, sweating steam from every joint and glinting with the recent application of oil on the running gear; feel the heat and listen to the beat of the compressor or catch a glimpse of the activity on the footplate. The romance of rail travel is with us yet though largely eclipsed by other forms of transport. Today the steam engine has been pensioned off, the branch line motors, the mixed trains and the roadside freights have mostly run their last trips in revenue service and the remaining passenger services corner a small share of the travel market. The picturesque backwaters of the system have been pruned and many stations reduced to the status of unattended halts. Weeds proliferate amongst the ruins where locomotives were watered and made ready for the road. The doors of countless goods-sheds are locked fast and pigeons roost where we once waited, not so long ago, for 'the pass'. The last surviving element of the transport scene are the stations in their erstwhile magnificence and comfort; their fading wallpapers and elegant fire surrounds, the waiting room appointments and the carved timber refreshment room bars. This book captures them all - from the resort stations, commuter stations, the big city terminals and the unimportant flag stops. Magnificent photography from Rennie Ellis. Click here to order $30

63157 Wheatley, Robert & Bruce (Foreword by Clive Robertson) Railway Portraits - signed copy Writelight Pty. Ltd., Blackheath NSW, 2010. Reprint.Quarto; hardcover; gray boards with white upper board and spine titles and photographic endpapers in b&w; 112pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; inscribed with a dedication by Rob Wheatley in ink to the verso of the flyleaf. Dustwrapper mildly sunned on front upper and spine panel edges now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. Click here to order $30

207571 Wright, Harry, K.T. Groves & M. Morahan (Phil Belbin & Craig Mackey, illus.) The 60 Class NSW Rail Transport Museum, Burwood NSW, 1994. Quarto; hardcover; 226pp., with many monochrome illustrations and a folding schematic. Minor wear; some light scraping to the boards. Dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. Click here to order $150