Book reviews

Shane O’Neil in Australian Railway History, October 2014

Some steam pictorial publications evoke good prospects on first glance, let alone when you start turning the pages. This is one of those publications and having been a long term convert to black and white photography, some would say for longer than was intended, I admired it immediately. The format, design and print quality is superb and the non-standard size (1250x1380mm), works well for the subject matter. In a book of 160 pages with glossy dust jacket, there are 153 black & white photographs, many of which are bled across double pages. Graham Palmer is a fine photographer and the selection presented here the locomotives, trains and the men who worked them in superb lighting conditions.

The book is well printed in China, which is catching up with the powerhouses of monochrome printing in Europe. To those familiar with the Wheatley Brothers publications, there is a similar style of railway photography with emphasis placed upon the locomotive crews, lineside observers, station staff and passengers. But not too much, as in some ways to this viewer’s eyes, the Wheatleys have driven the style as far as they can, without becoming repetitive. The same design and production team of Julianne Billington and Victoria Jeffreys is responsible for this book, which grew out of repeated attempts by the Wheatleys to persuade Graham Palmer to produce the publication. They were aware of his interest and passion for steam photography and wanted to ensure his images were exposed to a wider audience, not just his friends and family.

The subject matter is strictly New South Wales and with almost no diesel locomotives anywhere to be seen except in one scene, with the odd CPH or single deck suburban electric train only sighted in passing. For lovers of 60 Class Garratts there are many photos of these glorious beasts in action, a faint reminder of the past soon to be revived by the ACT Division of the ARHS when 6029 returns to operation. In many of the photographs there is so much detail and things happening, that they need to be revisited several times to absorb all that there is to offer. I love this type of publication and in my mind, this is my style of railway publication, bringing memories flooding back of searching out, chasing and photographing steam in company with like-minded souls as a truly, pleasurable pastime. Highly recommended.

Alan Dunn in Australian Model Railway Magazine, December 2014

There seems to be no end of late-steam era photographic albums emerging, but this is one of the best. Newcomer Graham Palmer was active photographing in the 1960s and put his camera away when the ‘tin boxes’ took over. He had a very fine eye for composition and interest, while never losing sight of the main game. The photographs in this book are of very high quality, enhanced by impressive processing and printing. A couple of shots are rather grainy, but by far the majority are crisp, well lit and sharp.

There is detail for the modeller everywhere, from the bracket signal on the front cover to a level crossing sign at Elong Elong, a tarpaulined S wagon from above, more signals at Sandgate, the water column at Store Creek, loading of sheepskins at Sandy Hollow and depot shots. There is a great shot of a Garratt on Whittingham bank, with fettlers’ cottages prominent in the foreground. My favourite is an evocative distant view of No.31 Central West Express, two Pigs on a HUB set with an EHO at the rear, struggling across the exposed and windswept ridge at Gresham. There are plenty of photos with human interest, showing the workings of a real, 24-hour a day railway. Innovatively, the book is themed into four sections based on the time of day; early morning, daytime, twilight and night. The later section, the ‘Mystery of Night’, particularly impressed me with night scenes beautifully captured and lit, and full of detail.

This is not ‘just another picture book’. It is a first-class overview of the twilight (and morning, noon and night) of the steam-era NSWGR, and well worth the asking price. The book is available direct from the publisher and from the ARHS (NSW) bookshop.