Bøker av David Larkin

Speedlink was launched in 1977 as an attempt to arrest the decline in British Rail''s wagonload freight business. One of the things that distinguished Speedlink workings from almost all of the freight services that had preceded it, was that all the wagons used were air braked. At its peak in the mid 1980s, it carried over 8 million tonnes annually. However, despite this, Speedlink was never profitable and in the run up to railway privatisation, the service was abandoned in 1991. This is the first of short series of four books, each one complete in itself, which will provide a comprehensive survey of the whole Speedlink wagon fleet. This first volume begins by setting the scene from which Speedlink emerged. It explores the background to BR''s lossmaking wagonload business from the 1960s onwards and examines the circumstances which led to the creation of Speedlink as the solution to these problems. Having dealt with the background to its emergence, the book moves on to look at existing air braked stock owned by British Rail prior to the launch of Speedlink including that built in the 1960s for use on train ferries and vehicles converted to air braking. All the many types of existing covered vans and open wagons that could be used on Speedlink are thus featured in this volume.Written by wagon expert David Larkin and heavily illustrated throughout, this series will be an invaluable source of reference for all those interested in the post steam era on Britain''s railways. Those modeling the railway scene from the 1970s to the 1990s will also find these books essential reading.

British Railways was created in 1948 when the Great Western, the London, Midland & Scottish, the London & North Eastern and the Southern were taken into public ownership. BR inherited all their locomotives, passenger and goods rolling stock. Whilst much has been published on BR locomotives and passenger stock, accurate and detailed coverage of the large inventory of vehicles used to convey the huge volumes of goods traffic carried by the railways at that time, is less readily available. This series sets out to provide that information. Written by David Larkin, one of the acknowledged experts on British railway wagons, each volume is heavily illustrated throughout.Starting with an overview of the categories of vehicles covered, this fifth volume explores the huge fleet of open general merchandise wagons, of various sizes, acquired from the ''Big Four''. The wagons are generally dealt with in relation to the companies that built them. The types of wagons covered in this volume includes three-plank mostly dropside opens and the more common general merchandise five-plank versions. It also deals with all the wagons which were produced with shock absorbing equipment from the 1930s onwards, low sided 20-ton capacity all-steel aggregate wagons and PW open wagons used for ballast and general loads.This series is an essential work of reference for all those interested in BR''s huge wagon fleet and a valuable reference tool for railway modellers.

Whilst much has been published on BR locomotives and passenger stock, accurate and detailed coverage of the large inventory of vehicles used to convey the huge volumes of goods traffic carried by the railways at that time.

Originally open wagons, those defined as having no cover and generally used for coal, minerals or other products not unduly affected by weather conditions, were of two types: private owner or Railway Company owned.

The first five Kestrel Railway Books volumes by David Larkin looked at the revenue-earning wagon fleet operated by British Railways and its successor, British Rail. These were followed by a series of three books looking at the specially designed wagons that were used for track maintenance, and then three volumes covering the parcels and passenger-rated stock. This is the second of two covering the ex-private owner fleet.When BR was created, it was intended that it should own all railway rolling stock, but legal action by some of the larger wagon-owning companies delayed things until 1951. Non-pool wagons were defined as privately-owned wagons allowed to run over railways owned or operated by the British Transport Commission. This series sets out the types of wagon eligible to be classified as Non-Pool and lists them individually with details of numbers carried, capacity and registration details where known. Volume 1 covered owners with initials A to H, and Volume 2 deals with the remaining owners alphabetically.

The first five Kestrel Railway Books volumes by David Larkin looked at the revenue-earning wagon fleet operated by British Railways and its successor, British Rail. These were followed by a series of three books looking at the specially-designed wagons that were used for track maintenance, and then three volumes covering the parcels and passenger-rated stock. This is the first of a series covering the ex-private owner fleet.When BR was created, it was intended that it should own all railway rolling stock, but legal action by some of the larger wagon-owning companies delayed things until 1951. Non-Pool wagons were defined as privately-owned wagons allowed to run over railways owned or operated by the British Transport Commission. This series sets out the types of wagon eligible to be classified as Non-Pool and lists them individually with details of numbers carried, capacity and registration details where known. Volume 1 covers owners with initials A to H, and Volume 2 (expected to be published in October 2016) deals with the remaining owners alphabetically.

The five previous volumes in this series have looked at the revenue-earning wagon fleet operated by British Railways and its immediate successor, British Rail. This volume, however, is the first of three that look at the substantial fleet of specially-designed wagons that were used for track maintenance. They included open wagons to take fresh materials to site, ballast hopper wagons that could be discharged on site, flat wagons to convey new rails and carry old rails away for scrapping, and specialized brake vans to distribute ballast and take gangs of men to remote locations. Most of the wagon types seen in this volume were either built for the "Big Four" railways before 1948, or werederived from them; they are all fully covered together with their BR-built equivalents. Towards the end of the period, former revenue-earning wagons were transferred into the Civil Engineers fleet, and these are also covered in this volume. Finally, there is an examination of the telegraphic code names used to identify the genuine Civil Engineers wagons throughout the period, the reasons why they were necessary, and the original allocations of these wagons.

David Larkin continues his comprehensive survey of British Railways goods wagons by looking at the final flowering of vacuum-braked stock, and the development of air-braked stock in the final years of British Railways, such as"merry-go-round" coal hoppers and Freightliner flat wagons. The batch of vacuum-fitted prototypes that eventually led to the general fleet of air-braked opens and vans is also covered.In addition, David also considers the effect of the change of corporate image for British Rail on wagon liveries, as a prelude to his continuation of the series into the British Rail era.Profusely illustrated, as are the other books in the series, this book includes lot and diagram details, wagon number ranges, builder''s and livery details of a diverse set of vehicles.

David Larkin continues his comprehensive survey of freight wagons by turning to the British Rail era. 1969 has been chosen as the starting point for this volume as it was the first full year of non-steam operation.At this time, orders were placed for the first air-braked general purpose open and van designs, and a major step forward was the introduction of the TOPS computerised wagon record system in 1972. The air-braked fleet was separated from other wagons, firstly by code (ABN), and then by name - Railfreight. Compatible privately-owned wagons operated with BR-owned stock on set routes, echoing the old Condor and Speedlink services and on a par with Freightliner services.Profusely illustrated, like the other books in the series, this book includes a lot of diagram details, wagon number ranges, builders and livery details.