Books by Tony Atkins

LNER train services carrying non-standard loads such as passengers' luggage in advance, mail, newspapers, perishable goods and more are depicted through photographs and illustrations in this detailed exploration of such functions from 1923 to 1968. Suitable inspiration for railway modellers.

Great Western Goods Train Working is a truly remarkable book providing - for the first time - a comprehensive guide as to how that most important of commodities ''goods'' were handled, marshalled, and moved by rail from despatch to destination.  Railways including the Great Western were founded upon the basis of goods movement - passengers would come later - which goes to explain why the GWR Goods Manager was for many years senior to even the Chief Mechanical Engineer, because the Goods Department brought in more revenue! In this all new book rolling stock is depicted for the first time in the context of how it was used, the train formations and where and how freight services operated.  The culmination of several decades of painstaking research this complex and detailed subject is split into two volumes both rightly deserving a place on the bookshelf of the enthusiast and historian.

The name of Tony Atkins will need no introduction to followers of the Great Western Railway. In Part 2 of this monumental work on Great Western Goods working, the story is taken forward starting with 20th Century goods train on the GWR working to the various types of special traffic handled. This heavily illustrated volume looks at perishable traffic: flowers, fruit and vegetables, banana workings, as well as livestock, refrigerated and fish traffic. There are also sections on dangerous goods and exceptional loads, the movement of the latter often requiring considerable planning to avoid structures and other trains from a load which was outside the standard loading gauge. The culmination of several decades of painstaking research this complex and detailed subject is split into two volumes, both rightly deserving a place on the bookshelf of the enthusiast and historian.