{"product_id":"the-raf-masirah-railway-9781899231003","title":"The RAF Masirah Railway","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe island of Masirah lies off the Indian Ocean coast of Oman, part of the long stretch of coast which runs southwest from the Gulf of Oman to the Red Sea. Formerly quite populous, by the early years of this century Masirah supported a small indigenous population, who existed mainly by fishing. The island is some 10 miles wide by 44 miles long, with low gravel hills in the south, rocky hills up to 900 feet high in the centre, and a flat gravel plain at the northern tip.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the end of 1942 the danger to allied shipping in the region posed by Japanese submarines led to the RAF and USAAF setting up a permanent airbase on that gravel plain. In order to handle the large quantities of supplies landed by ship a narrow gauge railway was built, serving dispersed fuel dumps and supply compounds. The railway continued in this role until the mid-1960s, then fell into disuse. Resurrected by the British servicemen as a spare time activity in 1969, trains continued to run until 1977, when the airfield was handed over to the Sultan of Oman's Air Force.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBill Corser details the history of this exotic little railway from its inception, and brings the story up to the present day, as one of the locomotives has survived and lives on the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway. The story has been gleaned from wartime records and many personal recollections, and is presented using the words of those involved as much as possible. Maps showing the development of the line and drawings of the American and British locos and rolling stock complete this in depth study of a most unusual narrow gauge railway.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoftback, 17x25cm, 96 pages, black \u0026amp; white photographs, drawings\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition: Good\/Very Good, fading around spine\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"RAM Productions","offers":[{"title":"Secondhand (282)","offer_id":57503321719167,"sku":"9781899231003","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1910\/7111\/files\/9781899231003.jpg?v=1778599707","url":"https:\/\/rail-books.co.uk\/products\/the-raf-masirah-railway-9781899231003","provider":"Rail Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}