Written by Garry Stroud, this softcover book comes in the usual Amberley format of around 234mm x 165mm and is 96 pages long. It has a published price of £15.99.

The book is not split into chapters but is an illustrated record of the railway scene around in and around Swindon in the diesel-hydraulic era through to the reign of the HSTs.

With 180 photographs, all in colour, this book is steeped in nostalgia for those of us who still enjoyed the railway scene after the demise of steam. The photographs are laid out in chronological order from February 1969 through to July 1989.

The shot of ‘A’ shop taken from the traverser should bring back memories to anyone who ever toured the works on the regular Wednesday afternoon tours.

Besides a well-chosen selection of photos from this era, a few surprises creep in such as a DMU in Scottish Strathclyde PTE colours and Southern Class 71 electrics on their way to scrap.

Garry was employed at the works so was in the advantageous position of being able to record this fascinating period of history which saw the demise of Westerns, Warships, and Hymeks, to be replaced by the diesel-electric class 37s, 47s, 50s, and HSTs.

There is a well-chosen selection of photos, many of which could only have been taken by a works employee such a Garry. It is surprising how many ‘foreign’ locos rolling stock were seen at Swindon for one reason or another.

We see a sad line up of Class 22s awaiting the cutter’s torch while opposite is a photo of the last Warship to be overhauled at Swindon Works.

Even Scottish Region Class 27s were captured, as well as the now-preserved D1015 Western Champion next to a Warship standing around the works main turntable.

The book is available to purchase from Amazon as well as from Amberley Publishing.

We would like to thank Amberley Publishing for providing RailAdvent with a copy of the book for review.