DIESEL DECADE. The 1980s. Sutton Publishing. Hardback – 144 pages. Author Roger Siviter ISBN 0-7509-4340-8

There is a certain quality about black & white photography that is hard to define. With colour photography our eye seems to be drawn to the colour rather than the subject. Black & white is certainly the preferred media for many professional photographers and Roger Siviter is no exception. The cover photograph is by his wife, who obviously shares his passion for railways and photography. This book, apart from the jacket photographs, is fully black & white. This in no way detracts from the content which is a superb collection of Diesel locomotive photographs covering an area from Penzance to Thurso and locomotives from Class 03’s to Deltics. This book would be a wonderful source of period information for the serious railway modeller as it is full of very detailed photographs under headings such as Viaducts & Bridges, Signal-boxes

& Semaphore Signals thro’ to Stations & Junctions plus a host more. Much of the 1980’s railway infrastructure has been swept away with modernisation and it is only through photographic collections such as this that the period and its atmosphere can be recaptured. Roger Siviters’ book does this in a most successful way and will surely find a well deserved place on any railway enthusiasts bookshelf.

This book is available from Tee Publishing Limited, £19.99 + pp. Colin Usher