RMweb Premium Andy Kirkham Posted March 1, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) In a charity shop I picked up a copy of Railway Liveries 1923-1947 by Brian Harsnape. Haresnape mentions a book Britain's Railway Liveries by Ernest F Carter (commending it particularly for its colour chart). I had vaguely heard of Ernest F Carter and idly looked him up in Abe Books; there transpired a remarkable tally of publications, as well as the fact that he had founded the Model Railway Constructor in 1934. In his day he must have loomed like a collossus over the hobby, and had as great an influence as C J Freezer did for later generations. Carter's last books seem to date from 1963 PROTOTYPE RAILWAYS British Steam Locomotives The Observer's Book of Railway Locomotives of Britain (The 1966 edition was revised by H C Casserley, so Carter had probably retired or died by then) Britain's Railway Liveries : colours, crests and Linings, 1825-1948 The Railway Encyclopaedia An Historical Geography Of The Railways Of The British Isles Unusual Locomotives The true book about railways The Boy's Book of World Railways Famous Trains of the World Famous Railway Stations of the World Railways in War Times / Les chemins de fer en guerre Let's Look at Trains MODEL RAILWAYS Model Railways for Beginners Parts 1-3 The Observer's Book Of Model Railway Locomotives Of Britain Railway Modelling - An Introduction to Scale Railway Modelling Tackle Model Railways This Way Cardboard Modelcraft Practical "Two Rail" Electrification Model Railway Electrification Make Your Own 'O' Gauge Motor Stud Contact Electrification Electrical Control of Clockwork Railways Model Railway Signals - Their Construction, Installation and Operation Model Railway Illumination. Night Operation Trix, Twin Railway Year Book 1955 The Boy's Book of Model Railways The Model Railway Encyclopedia 00 Gauge Layout and Design Locomotive Body Construction Designing and Building Loco Bodies Designing & Building "OO" Trackwork Building Passenger Rolling Stock Wagon and Van Construction NON-RAILWAY Trams and Tramways The Boy's Book of Buses of the World The Boy's Book of Veteran Cars Edwardian Cars - a Reverie of Adventurous Motoring. Famous Motor-Coaches and Coachways of the World Veteran Cars The Mechanical Age Library : Hydro-Electric Power Tackle Car Maintenance this Way Veteran Car Owners Manual Cycles and Motor Cycles Things To Do About the Home (with David Shaw) Edited March 1, 2022 by Andy Kirkham 10 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 A man who did a huge amount for our hobby, and produced some seriously useful books. I don’t think that list is complete, BTW. There was a professional biography of him in a TCS journal a few years back, and I seem to remember that he lost an arm in WW1. His livery book is a good one, although lots of modern research has superseded some of the content, and the colour chips given at the back are possibly no longer totally trustworthy after all these years. Ot looks to have been compiled by a combination of his personal memory plus snippets culled from magazines contemporary with the liveries, so it describes “how people saw it at the time”, with all the attendant subjectivity of colour descriptions. The one I always think of is LNWR coach “plum”, which was quite often referred to as “chocolate”, and when you think about it, it is pretty much the colour of Cadbury’s Bourneville plain chocolate, which is hugely different from GWR “chocolate”. I learned how to create timetable graphs, and schedule trains, including the rudiments of loco and stock diagramming, from one of his little books when I was about 10yo, for which I’ve always been grateful to him. 4 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john new Posted March 1, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 1, 2022 Although a lot is obsolete as the proprietary products are no longer available, especially in electrics matters, I still refer occasionally to the books of his I have, useful diagrams etc. A good idea is a good idea whatever the era, and much can be adapted to current alternatives Very influential writer back in the era in which I was growing up. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Andy Kirkham Posted March 1, 2022 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 1, 2022 10 minutes ago, Nearholmer said: I don’t think that list is complete, BTW. These are just the titles I found currently available on Abe Books 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free At Last Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 Found two on my shelf... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted March 2, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 2, 2022 I found my copy of 'Designing & Building OO Trackwork', which I had inexplicably attributed to Edward Beal in my index - now fixed. Upon opening it, it is rather dated and rather hard to read. However I found a Hamblings catalogue inside, which I didn't know I had. It has 12 small pages and lists coach, wagon & loco parts. Also litho sheets and track parts. Also is a fold out sheet on Hamblings Type 'A' insulated 2-rail track and another on Shenphone rectifier power units, which from the text was an industrial grade range of power supplies AC & DC. I also have a front cover less 'Electric Model Railways'. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 (edited) I’ve got a copy of the first edition of MRC, but it’s buried somewhere in the cupboard, so I can’t show you the introductory editorial, but Andy might find the wonderful paint chips in the livery book interesting. Must have cost a fortune to produce these, because they are genuinely paint samples, made to be as close to the original colours as research and technology permitted at the time, rather than ink approximations of paint. In the introduction to the book, EFC is very careful to state the limitations both of the research and the reproduction methods, and he discusses variability of finish, the changes wrought by weathering etc. Overall, he makes certain that he can’t be fairly accused of overstating his case …… very balanced stuff! Edited March 2, 2022 by Nearholmer 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Old Gringo Posted January 21, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2023 On 01/03/2022 at 19:45, Andy Kirkham said: In a charity shop I picked up a copy of Railway Liveries 1923-1947 by Brian Harsnape. Haresnape mentions a book Britain's Railway Liveries by Ernest F Carter (commending it particularly for its colour chart). I had vaguely heard of Ernest F Carter and idly looked him up in Abe Books; there transpired a remarkable tally of publications, as well as the fact that he had founded the Model Railway Constructor in 1934. In his day he must have loomed like a collossus over the hobby, and had as great an influence as C J Freezer did for later generations. Carter's last books seem to date from 1963 PROTOTYPE RAILWAYS British Steam Locomotives The Observer's Book of Railway Locomotives of Britain (The 1966 edition was revised by H C Casserley, so Carter had probably retired or died by then) Britain's Railway Liveries : colours, crests and Linings, 1825-1948 The Railway Encyclopaedia An Historical Geography Of The Railways Of The British Isles Unusual Locomotives The true book about railways The Boy's Book of World Railways Famous Trains of the World Famous Railway Stations of the World Railways in War Times / Les chemins de fer en guerre Let's Look at Trains MODEL RAILWAYS Model Railways for Beginners Parts 1-3 The Observer's Book Of Model Railway Locomotives Of Britain Railway Modelling - An Introduction to Scale Railway Modelling Tackle Model Railways This Way Cardboard Modelcraft Practical "Two Rail" Electrification Model Railway Electrification Make Your Own 'O' Gauge Motor Stud Contact Electrification Electrical Control of Clockwork Railways Model Railway Signals - Their Construction, Installation and Operation Model Railway Illumination. Night Operation Trix, Twin Railway Year Book 1955 The Boy's Book of Model Railways The Model Railway Encyclopedia 00 Gauge Layout and Design Locomotive Body Construction Designing and Building Loco Bodies Designing & Building "OO" Trackwork Building Passenger Rolling Stock Wagon and Van Construction NON-RAILWAY Trams and Tramways The Boy's Book of Buses of the World The Boy's Book of Veteran Cars Edwardian Cars - a Reverie of Adventurous Motoring. Famous Motor-Coaches and Coachways of the World Veteran Cars The Mechanical Age Library : Hydro-Electric Power Tackle Car Maintenance this Way Veteran Car Owners Manual Cycles and Motor Cycles Things To Do About the Home (with David Shaw) One of my first railway books was 'The Observer's Book of Railway Locomotives of Britain' by Ernest F. Carter; which "Describes the steam locomotives of Britain, with 8 colour plates and over 200 photographs" and was first published in 1955 by Frederick Warne. The book was probably bought by my Dad sometime in maybe 1957 and was the first 'all locomotives' book in our house, until the purchase of an Ian Allan abc spotters' booklet around 1959. As a train-mad kid, this little 3.5" x 5.5", 282 page book had some harsh treatment and it would be over forty years later before I found another copy of Observer's Book number 23, complete with a smart dust-jacket with the picture of Britannia Class No. 70009 'Alfred the Great' . And until taking this photo for the topic, I had never realised that the dust-jacket cover artwork was in fact one of those eight colour plate illustrations, all by Kenneth E. Carter (Ernest's son). From the 1957 edition, Henry Casserley (1903 - 1991) took over the compilation of the Observer's book and carried on until at least the 1975 edition. I think I might have a few more of Ernest F.Carter's books on my bookshelves. All the very best, John 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold melmoth Posted January 21, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2023 I've got this on the shelves of my shop at the moment. Electric Model Railways in this context seems to mean 3-rail, O gauge. But the adverts are interesting. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micknich2003 Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Ernest, wrote an account of himself in a mid to late '30's Model Railway Constructor, he refs to the loss of his to an industrial accident. He also refferred to a young son, and who if still around will probably be ninety or more. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Old Gringo Posted January 21, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2023 Until Andy Kirkham posted the list of titles he had discovered on the internet, I hadn't realised just how many books Ernest Frank Carter (1899 - 1964?) had written. It also came as a surprise to find how many of the hard-backed prototype volumes I had tucked away on the book shelves - and also how many of them had illustrations produced by his son, Kenneth E. Carter (1931 - 2004). Ernest Frank Carter probably ranks alongside some of the most popular railway writers of the 1950s and 1960s, which includes other well-known names such as: Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis, author and well known artist; Thomas Caswell Rolt, author and pioneer in the preservation movements of canals and railways; Henry Casserley, famous photographer and author and Oswald Stevens Nock, prolific railway author and also watercolour artist. According to the brief note about Ernest Carter in the front of Model Railway Encyclopaedia: "His interest in model railways dates back to 1914, and it is significant that a year later he had anticipated the modern pastime of "train-spotting" and was busy collecting engine numbers. A great admirer of true-scale modelling in all its fields, he champions the cause of the enthusiastic railway modeller who prefers to build and make as much as possible himself." A staunch believer in the truism - "Do as the real railways do it and you will not go far wrong". The Model Railway Encyclopaedia was first published in 1950, by Burke Publishing Co. Ltd., 496 pages, 461 diagrams and 128 photographs and even over 70 years on is still a useful reference book. Here's a picture of my well-used copy! 4 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted January 21, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2023 1 hour ago, micknich2003 said: Ernest, wrote an account of himself in a mid to late '30's Model Railway Constructor, he refs to the loss of his to an industrial accident. He also refferred to a young son, and who if still around will probably be ninety or more. I'm worried and intrigued as to what he lost! Could you elucidate? Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Old Gringo Posted January 21, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2023 13 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said: I'm worried and intrigued as to what he lost! Could you elucidate? Mike. His left arm, Mike. Kevin (post 2) thought it was in WW1, however, Mick (post 10) says it was in an industrial accident. edit: There's a picture of EFC in the frontispiece of Model Railway Encyclopaedia confirming that it was his left arm. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted January 21, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2023 Be it noted that BR had a Chairman who had lost most of his right arm - Bob Reid MkII. He had come from Shell. It is no surprise that the subject of this thread did not let his misfortune scupper the rest of his career, but may be an object lesson in leading life to the full. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DavidLong Posted January 21, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2023 Jack Nelson was another writer and modeller who had lost an arm, in a motorcycle accident if I recall correctly. His seminal work 'LNWR Portrayed' is being reprinted by Peco. David 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 22, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 22, 2023 'Old Gringo's mention of LTC Rolt reminds me of a chap who lived round the corner from us. His surname was Rolt-Hammond, an engineer, and he knew Tom Rolt quite well. Apparently they used to wonder if they were in fact related because both of them - according to Rolt-Hammond - had been adopted at an early age and they shared similar interests apart from the similarity in surnames. This was of course back before the days when it became much easier for adopted folk to trace back to their natural parents. I actually met and spoke to Hamilton Ellis - on Norwich station platform when taking a day trip on a 'GE Progress Chasers' special excursion. Give him his due he was more than happy to talk to a spotty teenager and as I had (and still have) a number of his books I found it very interesting to talk to him. One thing perhaps not often realised is that various of his pictures were used at one time by BR for the pictures included in some compartment stock. 3 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted January 22, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2023 38 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said: One thing perhaps not often realised is that various of his pictures were used at one time by BR for the pictures included in some compartment stock. These are available via railwayana sales, as are the NRM reprints more cheaply, they frame up nicely. The Emporium at GCR Loughborough usually has some and lots of books - Winter Steam Gala next weekend. Dava 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators AY Mod Posted January 22, 2023 Administrators Share Posted January 22, 2023 18 hours ago, Old Gringo said: It also came as a surprise to find how many of the hard-backed prototype volumes I had tucked away on the book shelves It may have been a surprise to you. But... 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Old Gringo Posted January 22, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2023 On the afternoon of the day that the most Victoria Crosses were won in a single action (at Rorkes' Drift in 1879), I thought I'd not watch that epic film, 'Zulu', for the umpteenth time, but instead post a bit more about E.F.C's books. As Andy's list in the OP shows, there's a lot more publications by Ernest Carter on model railways published after he left the editor's position of Model Railway Constructor (1939) and before compiling The Model Railway Encyclopedia (1950). Many of the extensive list of modelling publications are paperbacks like that illustrated by Jon (Melmoth) in an earlier post. Although many of the modelling publications produced by EFC were printed in paperback, 'The Boys Book of Model Railways' was a quality hardback. Again published by Burke in 1958 (and reprinted twice in 1959) this book features plenty of Hornby Dublo models in the illustrations. Of course, at that time those were the best value RTR 00 gauge models that most boys could aspire to own and Hornby Dublo started so many of us older RMWebbers off with a lifelong hobby. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Great book that, and the cover photo still informs/inspires my layout building now, my general drift being to create something that could plausibly be attributed to BL in the 1950s! 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Old Gringo Posted January 22, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2023 In posts 2 and 7 of the topic, Kevin (Nearholmer) mentioned Ernest F. Carter's probably most well-known book on the prototype railways - 'Britain's Railway Liveries'; 352 pages, by Burke Publishing Ltd. in 1952. IMO, this is still the ultimate reference book regarding railway liveries. Worth it alone for the preface and four page introduction, plus the superb fold-out colour chart at the back of the book. The 50 colour samples were provided by Thomas Parsons & Sons Limited: a firm which the advert says "already had over 35 years experience of making paints and varnishes for the coaching trade, when the railways were new" and (by 1952) had "150 years of manufacture and patient research and a high reputation for quality". My copy of BRL, (bought at Bristol MREX a long time ago) has been well thumbed and doesn't have the attractive dust-jacket that the book was produced with over seventy years ago! I keep hoping that a really well cared for copy will turn up one day, on the second-hand shelves at Kidderminster Railway Museum, fingers crossed. It seems that there's was bit of a gap before E.F.C. had another hardback published. The Observer's book No. 23 (pictured in the earlier post) by Frederick Warne & Co. was in 1955 and I wonder if 'The Observer's Book of Model Locomotives' (apparently published in 1958) was next? However, I've never seen a copy of this book. Has anybody else seen one ? However, Ernest had been busy, as 'The Boys Book of Model Railways' (described in my previous post) and 'Famous Railway Stations of the World', were also published in 1958. The latter book, again with illustrations by his son, Kenneth, is probably his next published work about the prototype railways. 'Famous Railway Stations of the World' is one of the 'Globe Books' series, published by Frederick Muller Ltd., and was followed by 'Famous Trains of the World' by E.F.C. in 1959. Both these books took the railway theme on from other books in the series - Hamilton Ellis's 'Famous Locomotives of the World' (1957), then H. Wilson & J.R. Day's (Famous) 'Railways of the World', A.J. Wrottesley's (Famous) 'Underground Railways of the World' and F. Dean's (Famous) 'Cableways of the World'. By 1959 there were twenty books in the 'Globe' series by Muller Publishing - "A series of informative books for young people, written by experts and dealing authoritatively with every aspect of transport and communications". All were prefixed 'Famous' and tag-lined 'of the World'. Ernest had completed five of the series, the two mentioned in the previous paragraph and one each on; 'Roads', 'Motor Coaches and Coachways', and 'Telecommunications'. 6 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Old Gringo said: The Observer's Book of Model Locomotives' (apparently published in 1958) I thought I had a worryingly comprehensive knowledge of old railway books, but that I’ve never heard of, let alone seen. My interest is piqued! PS: it doesn’t appear on lists of published Observer’s books, so I conclude that it wasn’t. http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/observer.html Edited January 22, 2023 by Nearholmer 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Old Gringo Posted January 22, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 22/01/2023 at 17:53, Nearholmer said: I thought I had a worryingly comprehensive knowledge of old railway books, but that I’ve never heard of, let alone seen. My interest is piqued! PS: it doesn’t appear on lists of published Observer’s books, so I conclude that it wasn’t. http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/observer.html Hi Kevin, Thanks for posting the Observers' link. I'm glad I don't collect them. I had the title from the second entry on Andy's (OP) list of Model Railway publications. Back in March 2022, I must have surfed the web and arrived at that 'possible' publishing date. However, unfortunately, I didn't follow it up, or make a reference! Maybe it was a paperback, or just an idea that was never produced? All the very best, John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium RichardT Posted January 22, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) On 01/03/2022 at 21:26, Nearholmer said: and the colour chips given at the back are possibly no longer totally trustworthy after all these years. Coming late to this party, but pace Old Gringo above, if the book has largely been kept closed, not laid out for long periods in bright sunlight, and kept in relatively cool (UK) temperatures the paint samples will be as good today as the day they were painted onto the page. Simple anno domini doesn’t fade paint or cause varnish to yellow - it’s primarily direct exposure to UV light that does the damage. Indirectly UV light and high humidity, working on the substrate and causing high lignin paper to go brown through acid action, may eventually affect the shade of the paint chips (less so than if they were printers ink) as high lignin paper does slowly deteriorate on its own over time, but storage in cool, dry and dark conditions will greatly slow down the deterioration. RichardT Edited January 22, 2023 by RichardT Greater detail added to clarify that the underlying paper may be affected through simple aging even if the paint isn’t. 1 1 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted January 23, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 22/01/2023 at 04:44, Old Gringo said: Until Andy Kirkham posted the list of titles he had discovered on the internet, I hadn't realised just how many books Ernest Frank Carter (1899 - 1964?) had written. It also came as a surprise to find how many of the hard-backed prototype volumes I had tucked away on the book shelves - and also how many of them had illustrations produced by his son, Kenneth E. Carter (1931 - 2004). Ernest Frank Carter probably ranks alongside some of the most popular railway writers of the 1950s and 1960s, which includes other well-known names such as: Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis, author and well known artist; Thomas Caswell Rolt, author and pioneer in the preservation movements of canals and railways; Henry Casserley, famous photographer and author and Oswald Stevens Nock, prolific railway author and also watercolour artist. According to the brief note about Ernest Carter in the front of Model Railway Encyclopaedia: "His interest in model railways dates back to 1914, and it is significant that a year later he had anticipated the modern pastime of "train-spotting" and was busy collecting engine numbers. A great admirer of true-scale modelling in all its fields, he champions the cause of the enthusiastic railway modeller who prefers to build and make as much as possible himself." A staunch believer in the truism - "Do as the real railways do it and you will not go far wrong". The Model Railway Encyclopaedia was first published in 1950, by Burke Publishing Co. Ltd., 496 pages, 461 diagrams and 128 photographs and even over 70 years on is still a useful reference book. Here's a picture of my well-used copy! Don't forget the fold-out loco blueprints! 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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