Western Times - Issue 10
The history periodical from Transport Treasury for students of the GWR and BR(W)
The Great Western and its nationalised successor is a vast subject and the mission to explore previously untapped topics within this spectrum continues in Issue No. 10. Services to the more northerly reaches of the GWR network are subjected to an extended review simply yet appropriately titled ‘Paddington to Birkenhead’.
A personal account of working in administration at Paddington provides an insight into the diverse ‘back room’ activities that had to be managed effectively to keep a large and complex organisation running smoothly in every respect.
On the motive power front, there is a colour review of the ubiquitous, unglamorous diesel shunter that for so long has been feature of the post-war railway but whose antecedents dated from GWR of the 1930s. Following the themes of shunters and ubiquity, Part 2 of the Pannier Story describes the purpose-built larger 0-6-0STs that emanated from Wolverhampton works and which in due course evolved into the early members of the vast pannier tank fleet.
More unusual facets of motive cover American engines in South Wales and how ancient 0-4-0ST No. 92 found its way on to the Swindon Test Plant in 1908. On more familiar ground, there is a pictorial feature which displays previously unpublished photographs that failed to make it into last year’s Castle Class Centenary Special Issue, and another landmark anniversary is also remembered – when Driver Moses let it rip down Wellington bank 120 years ago.
To many admirers the GWR was known as the “The Old Company” until that gloomy Final General Meeting in early 1948. We include an account of how Felix Pole and his team secured that affectionate nickname a quarter of a century earlier.
- Contents
- Introduction
- The Pannier Story: Part 2 – Wolverhampton Large Locomotives
- From the Archives of R C Riley: The 93xx Moguls
- Keeping the GWR On Track by Jim Horsnell
- Experimental Motive Power: No. 92 & Siemens
- City of Truro: A Notable Anniversary of ‘That’ Run
- Modern Traction: Diesel Shunters in Colour
- Book Review
- How the Great Western Kept Its Name
- From the Archives: Americans at Barry (Class K)
- Paddington to Birkenhead by Freddie Huxtable
- Signalman’s Error at Twyford
- Castle Portraits
- The Great Western Trust (GWT) – Bulletin No.9
- The Guard’s Compartment
Back copies of most issues are still available from us.
Softback, 80 pages, over 90 black & white and colour illustrations
ISBN: 9781913251741
Most orders are dispatched within two-three working days of receipt of cleared payment. If there is going to be a significant delay (more than 10 working days), we will contact you and, where possible, give you an estimated dispatch time.
Please be aware that advance orders will be sent as soon as the relevant book has been published.
When placing your order, please ensure that you add the correct full shipping address to your order. This includes house number, street name, zip code/post code. If parcels are returned on account of an incorrect shipping address we will contact you to seek the correct address and also ask that you pay a contribution towards posting the parcel to you a second time. Similarly, if a parcel is returned to us because the local mail service is unable to deliver it (or you do not collect it from the designated collection point), we will contact you and ask you for a contribution towards the cost of shipping to you for a second time.
The journey of a book from our shelves to the reader demands careful handling and the appropriate packaging. We recognise the need to ensure that books arrive at their destination in the same condition that they leave us. Our packaging solutions aim to accommodate books of all shapes and sizes. In a society where so much is thrown away, Rail-Books have a policy of reusing packing materials to pack your order wherever possible. Whilst this may generate a small saving in our packaging costs, the impact to the environment is a much greater saving. We also try to ensure that new packaging, such as boxes, book-wraps and envelopes, is made from recycled materials.
UK
All orders for UK addresses are normally sent via Royal Mail 48 Hour (the business equivalent of 2nd class mail) which is not tracked although Royal Mail do confirm delivery of parcels. Orders of £27.50 and over are sent post free. If you require tracking for your order, tracking & courier options are available for a small fee. The appropriate shipping option can be selected as part of the checkout process. If the service that you require is not shown, please get in touch with us and we can quote for your desired service.
Large, bulky or high value orders may be split in to multiple consignments or sent via courier. There is no additional charge for this and you will be advised at the order fulfillment stage if this happens.
Overseas
Overseas orders are charged based on weight, and postage will be automatically calculated at checkout. For a postage quotation, please add the items you want to your cart and proceed to the checkout. All orders are usually sent via Air Mail - this is not tracked. If you required your order to be tracked or sent by a different service, please contact us, preferably before checkout.
Royal Mail will only accept parcels up to 5kg in weight (2kg for Canada). If you are ordering multiple items that exceed these limits, please contact us first so that we can advise you of the appropriate shipping rate.
Due to the high volume of parcels going missing, we are no longer able to send untracked orders via third party mail handling services such as Parcel Motel. We are able to send untracked parcels to bona fide PO Box addresses, friends and family members and to work addresses.
Some countries charge import taxes and other taxes such as VAT; we suggest that in these cases, you asked for your order to be tracked so the local taxation authorities can trace your parcel.
Please note that courier services are unable to deliver to PO Box addresses. If you usually use a PO Box address, you will need to supply an alternative address if you require shipping by courier.
Our shipping rates are based on sending a 5kg/10kg parcel and will include insurance. We can often secure good rates by the use of booking agents and we will refund any excess paid by you.
Shipping to the European Union
From 1 July 2021, all EU countries will be imposing VAT on all imports. In the UK, books are zero-rated for VAT proposes so there is no VAT to deduct from the prices quoted on our website. All of our orders are usually sent "DDU" (Delivered Duty Unpaid) using a courier service and the shipping prices quoted are on a DDU basis. However, we are now able to offer limited "DDP" (Delivered Duty Paid) services to certain EU destinations. If you would like to purchase books on a DDP basis, please contact us before making your purchase and we will give you a DDP price. (Sometimes we can secure good DDP shipping rates - if this holds true, we will advise you if we are able to pay your taxes and/or whether is any additional payment required).
Therefore all DDU shipments to EU destinations will be held by the relevant customs authority until the customer pays any VAT that is due. We understand that if no payment is received by the relevant customs authority after 30 days, the package will be either returned or destroyed. Rail-Books will not be liable for any loss resulting from the destruction or return of goods where VAT has not been paid.
We recommend that customers in the EU follow the tracking data supplied to them once we dispatch your parcel and once the parcel is showing as arriving in the destination country, make contact with either the postal or customs authorities to pay the appropriate amounts of tax/duty.
Returned Parcels
On rare occasions, parcels will be returned to us. Where this happens we will refund the customer the cost of their order less any expenses incurred by ourselves (e.g. the initial cost of sending the parcel or costs relating to damage incurred in transit). If a customer requests that a parcel be shipped again for a second time, we request the customer to place a repeat order together with shipping costs. Repeat orders to UK customers will not be eligible for free shipping.
Updated: 2 April 2024