Willy - Nov 14, 2017 at 11:13 AM
After a lifelong interest in steam I am now keen to learn about freight and diesel operation during the ‘BR Blue’ era. I was around at the time but, unfortunately, I took no interest in contemporary railways during this interesting time so I am a novice.

I have all the David Larkin wagon books for this period but, as I have to rely on mail order, I would appreciate some recommendations. I have the following in mind, what do you think?

• BR Blue No.6 Train Formations (ISBN: 9781909328150)
• The Blue Diesel Era by David Cable (ISBN: 9780711037465)
• BR Blue in the 1970s and 1980s by Andrew Cole (ISBN-10: 1445674025)

jbe, Dec 28, 2017

I think you might also find these two books useful:

Rail Freight Since 1968: Wagonload (Railway Heritage) (ISBN 10: 1857942647 ISBN 13: 9781857942644)
Rail Freight Since 1968: Coal (ISBN 10: 1857942639 ISBN 13: 9781857942637)

Both are by Paul Shannon, published by Silver Link Publishing in 2006.

You get a good overview of the historical development in the diesel era with examples of commodity flows, train make up, timings, etc.

Julian