THE GWR STARS,CASTLES & KINGS.[Omnibus,combining Pts1+2.]

UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn thus.[A new, revised,combined volume published,1980.Originally,first published in two parts.Pt 1: 1967,1969, 1975 and Pt 2: 1970 and 1973.]VG+/VG+.UK,small,rectangular black ink,previous owner's name+address block- stamp to front fep,and no clip to dw/dj - as no publisher price present.Bright, crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour pictorial+photographic illustrated upper wrap; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to top edges - no major nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges toned/aged but unmarked; contents bright,tight and clean; with minimal foxing/spotting to verso+recto of half-title page, verso of b/w Terence Cuneo illustrated frntis and similar,to all 5 pages of index and verso of rear ep.Bright,clean,publisher's original dark green cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and clean plain white endpapers.Top edges of boards has a slight dent,front +back edges,lower edges minimally rubbed,head+foot of spine/backstrip minimally bumped with reciprocal creasing.UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn thus,half-title,Terence Cuneo b/w frntis,b/w train photograph vignetted title page; contents list/table,9-304pp [paginated] includes author preface,23 chapters,profuse b/w contemporary photographs,b/w diagrams+assorted tables throughout the text and the book,appendices (3) and an index - all on glossy paper.A David & Charles Locomotive Monograph.
This edn is out-of-print,as the publisher ceased trading in the late 1980's.
This book is the new,revised,combined edn of previously,earlier published Pts 1+2. volumes,dealing with some of the best- known and best-loved locomotives ever to run on rails.Even before he succeeded William Dean as Locomotive,Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the Great Western Railway,George Jackson Churchward had prepared a plan for the complete standardisation of the locomotive stock.All the proposed new standard engines had two cylinders mounted outside the frames,and Stephenson's link motion inside.But in the first years of the 20thC the remarkable performances of the De Glenn four-cylinder compound engines in France were attracting so much attention that the GWR purchased some French 'Atlantics' for trial purposes.The outcome was the development not of a new range of Great Western compounds, but of the ever-famous four-cylinder simple `Stars',which many years later were destined to become the forerunners of the even better known `Castles' and `Kings'.
In this book Mr Nock tells,in a wealth of technical detail,of the factors that led to the establishment of the broad principles,and to the superb detail of the original design.He draws upon many official and unofficial sources in describing how it was developed,and his story is embellished with records of dynamometer car test runs,and logs recorded by expert observers of locomotive performance.The introduction of superheating, top feed,and many features that came to play an important ancillary part in the success of these engines is fully described.In this volume Mr Nock takes the story down to the time of the `Kings' and their establishment as the mightiest engines on British metals,and then traces the equally fascinating story of how this `family' of locomotives was developed and modernised to meet the gradually changing conditions of railway working,to the time when the last remaining `Castle' in regular service made its last run,in 1965.The book is lavishly illustrated with photographs depicting the main stages of development,and also the many varieties of detail and finish that were incorporated from time to time.While much information has already been published about these locomotives,this is the first time that all data has been gathered together into a single co-ordinated work.
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