Diesels in the Western Region – Book Review

Note. A copy of this book was sent to me for review by the publisher. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book which I have reviewed in exactly the same way as all the others on this site.

In the Great Western Railway dictionary, the word ‘conformity’ did not exist! The company’s individualistic attitude persisted well into the nationalised era and the introduction of diesel traction on the Western Region was uniquely different from other areas of the country.

George Woods’ ‘Diesels in the Western Region’ takes a photographic look at these locomotives, using images from his personal collection. It was published in September 2021 by Amberley Publishing.

Western Region diesels: hydraulics and more

Woods provides background to the photographs in a three page Introduction, describing the need for more powerful diesel engines in the late 1950s and 1960s. Central to the story is the deployment of diesel-hydraulic traction in the Western Region in contrast to the use of diesel-electrics everywhere else in Britain. The book then dives straight into ninety pages of annotated colour photographs, arranged mostly two to a page. The pictures are largely of good quality and, with two exceptions, cover locomotives from the late ‘50s to 2019. The exceptions are a 1940 GWR diesel railcar and a 1949 prototype Swiss gas turbine locomotive.

From GWR railcars to Hitachis – and much, but not all, in between!

Being unique to the Western Region, diesel-hydraulic pictures are prominent. Almost half the book is devoted to the type with the Class 42 Warships and Class 52 Westerns receiving most attention. Although there are some pictures of freight trains, the focus is on passenger services. This is clearly what the author snapped, but does mean that the book is unbalanced. For example, there are few pictures of Class 37s in action, despite extensive use on mineral trains in the Western Region.

As such, this book can be viewed as complementary to the publisher’s earlier volume Freight Trains on the Western Region in the 1980s by Kevin Redwood (read our review). Interspersed among the in-service locomotives are pictures of preserved machines. Painted in GWR colours with a GWR crest on the door the Class 57 photograph is especially notable. This would make a particularly interesting exhibit for a modeller with a preservation based layout.

All the featured classes operated in South East Wales at some point or another and there are a number of photographs from locations in the region. Apart from engines at Barry Yard and Radyr,  there is a wonderful pair of Diesel Multiple Unit pictures taken from the same position on Cardiff Central Station nearly 50 years apart. The first features a South Wales Pullman in 1969, the second a modern GWR Hitachi train.

In Summary

A personal album of previously unpublished photographs featuring locomotives unique to the Western Region. Bucketloads of nostalgia with a splash of the contemporary! But if you want a balanced perspective you would also need to get Amberley’s Freight Trains of the Western Region in the 1980s to go alongside.

About the Author: George Woods

George Woods has been photographing trains since 1959. He made the change from black and white to colour slides in 1966 before going digital in 2004 having amassed around 30,000 slides.

(from Amberley Publishing)

Related reviews

Diesels Around Cardiff by Andrew Wiltshire
Freight Trains of the Western Region in the 1980s by Kevin Redwood
HSTs: The Western Region by Mark V. Pike
Liveries of the WR Diesel Hydraulics by Russel Saxton
Margam Depot by Martin Bray
Railways in South Wales and the Central Wales Line in the late 20th Century by Peter J. Green
The Blue Pullman Story by Kevin Robertson and Mike Smith
Western Class Locomotives: A Tribute by Bernard Mills