UK Regional Handbooks

 

The Regional Handbooks cover the industrial railways in each area of the UK. These were the first IRS publications, started right back in 1947, and by 1966 we had covered all of England & Wales (but Scotland had to wait until 1976!). Since then we have been constantly up-dating our data and issuing new versions of these books. The amount of information has grown so much over the years that it has been necessary to split the regions into smaller areas to keep the books to a reasonable size and cost. For example Nottinghamshire, which was once grouped with Derbyshire & Leicestershire in "Book 'B' - East Midlands", now has a book of its own. That first book had a 4.2 x 5.4in format, of which Nottinghamshire covered just 31 pages - the new version has 384 larger pages for Notts alone!

The content of the Regional Handbooks varies to a certain extent, depending on the ideas of the individual editor. However all of these books cover all the industrial railways in each region, as well as those contractors and locomotive dealers. Preservation sites in the region are also covered, as are the more interesting lines that were worked without the use of locos. All known locos at each location are listed and there is a short history of each company or location. There is a general map of the region, with sectional maps showing the location and principal lines of each site. In latest books these maps are also in colour. Indexes are included for locations and for locomotives. There is also a separate section of black & white photos of a representative selection of locos.

Unless otherwise stated, all books in this section have A5 page size (5.7 x 8.3 in),
with stitched sections and laminated board covers (hardback) or laminated card covers (softback)

Interim Pocket Books (IPBs)

It has always been the intention of the IRS to publish full historical Handbooks covering all regions of the United Kingdom. However for various reasons, largely due to limited volunteer resources, such books have yet to appear for certain areas. Books were published for these areas in the past, but some have not been revised for many years, and new 'full' Handbooks are not likely to appear for many more years yet. In order to make some progress with the Lancashire book (one of the oldest, unrevised books), the IRS committee sanctioned the production of Interim Pocket Books for the area, effectively updating the old Lancashire Pocket Book of 1952. These are being published as a pilot scheme in limited quantities, to cater for the needs of those members who have an interest in historical affairs. Since then further IPBs have been published on Yorkshire, another area whose last full books were published many years ago.

In theory an IPB basically consists of the text of the old Pocket Book, amended in accordance with the Bulletins issued for that book, then further amended with data from the 12 issues of the EL books, and any other readily available additional information. However this series will not have the thorough vetting by the IRS Historical Records Officer, that would hold up work on other, full Handbooks. It is hoped that these IPB books will bring forth comments, corrections and additional information from readers, all of which will be carefully recorded for use in the full Handbook when that finally arrives.


'Industrial Locomotives of the West Midlands'
ISBN 978 1 901556 67 4

'Industrial Locomotives of the East Midlands'
ISBN 978 1 901556 68 1

Reprints - see here for more details

'Industrial Railways &
Locomotives of Essex'
by Robin Waywell & Frank Jux
 ISBN 978 1 901556 65 0 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 1 901556 66 7 (softbound)

372 pages of text, including 35 pages of full colour maps,
plus 159 B&W photos
£23.95 (soft cover) £27.95 (hard cover)
IRS members' prices: £19.00 & £22.00
'Industrial Railways & Locomotives
of Lincolnshire & Rutland'
by Philip Ashforth, Ian Bendall & Ken Plant
 ISBN 979 1 901556 62 9 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 1 901556 63 6 (softbound)

320 pages of text, including 14 colour maps,
plus 64 pages of B&W and colour photos
£21.95 (soft cover) £25.95 (hard cover)
'Industrial Railways & Locomotives
of the County of London'
by Robin Waywell & Frank Jux
ISBN 978 1 901556 51 3 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 1 901556 52 0 (softbound)

232 pages of text, including 24 pages of full colour maps,
plus 80 B&W photos
£16.95 (soft cover) £19.95 (hard cover)

'Industrial Railways & Locomotives
of County Durham - Part 1'
by Colin E. Mountford & Dave Holroyde
 ISBN 978 1 901556 38 4 (hardbound)

The first part of a complete revision of the Handbook for this heavily industrialised county

6.6" x 9.5", 492 pages with 181 photos and
 22 pages of colour maps and 13 system maps - SOLD OUT

'Industrial Railways & Locomotives
of County Durham - Part 2'
by Colin E. Mountford & Dave Holroyde
ISBN 978 1 901556 56 5 (hardbound)

The second part of a complete revision of the Handbook for this heavily industrialised county.
This part covers NCB/British Coal in 1947-1993 ... [more].

6.6" x 9.5", 416 pages with 271 photos,
 18 colour maps and 28 diagrams - £29.99

'Industrial Railways and Locomotives
of Hertfordshire & Middlesex'
 ISBN 978 1 901556 45 2 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 1 901556 46 9 (softbound)

369 pages of text, 43 maps & 64 B&W photos
£19.95 (soft cover) £24.95 (hard cover)

'Industrial Railways and
Locomotives of South Yorkshire
The Coal Industry – 1947-1994'
Preliminary Handbook
 ISBN 978 1 901556 43 3

124 pages of text, 7 maps & 32 B&W photos
£14.95 (soft cover)

Note - this is basically an 'IPB' book
'Industrial Railways and
Locomotives of Worcestershire'
Preliminary Draft
 ISBN 978 1 901556 32 2

60 pages of text + 8 pages of maps (no photos)
£9.95 (soft cover)

Note - this is basically an 'IPB' book
Only limited stocks are available
'Industrial Railways and
Locomotives of West Yorkshire'
Preliminary Draft
 ISBN 978 1 901556 31 5

188 pages of text + 12 pages of maps (no photos)
£15.00 (soft cover)

Note - this is basically an 'IPB' book
Only limited stocks are available

An extra "Index of Owners & Locations" for this book is
now available from the  Downloads page

'Industrial Locomotives of Yorkshire :
Part A - The National Coal Board in 
West & North Yorkshire (IPB 8A)'
by V.J.Bradley
ISBN 978 1 901556 26 1

162 pages of text, including 4 pages of maps (no photos).
£9.95 (soft cover)
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'Industrial Locomotives of Lancashire :
Part A - The National Coal Board (IPB 7A)'
by V.J.Bradley & P.G.Hindley
ISBN 978 1 901556 19 3

100 pages of text, including 4 pages of maps (no photos).
£7.50 (soft cover) : One update list - 50p

'Industrial Locomotives of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire & Northamptonshire'
by Robin Waywell
ISBN 978 1 901556 23 9 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 1 901556 24 7 (softbound)

412 pages of text, including 40 4-colour maps + 96 photos.
£19.95 (soft cover) £24.95 (hard cover)
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'Industrial Locomotives of Nottinghamshire'
by Ian Bendall
ISBN 978 1 901556 11 7 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 1 901556 12 4 (softbound)

384 pages of text, including 23 pages of four-colour maps + 95 photos. £19.95 (soft cover) £24.95 (hard cover)
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'Industrial Locomotives of North Wales'
by V.J.Bradley
 ISBN 978 0 901096 73 3 (softbound)

500 pages + location maps and 39 photos. £22.95 (soft)

 Three update lists - £2.00 - or download a free, combination list incorporating all issued up-dates.
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'Industrial Locomotives of Dyfed & Powys'
by J.de Havilland
 ISBN 978 0 901096 83 8 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 0 901096 84 5 (softbound)

342 pages + location maps and 80 photos.

£19.95 (hard)  £16.95 (soft) : Four update lists - £2.50
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'Industrial Locomotives of West Glamorgan'
by M.Potts & G.W.Green
 ISBN 978 0 901096 89 0 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 0 901096 90 6 (softbound)

260 pages + three-colour location maps and 64 photos.

£14.95 (soft cover) £16.95 (hard cover) : One update list - 50p

'Industrial Locomotives
of Mid & South Glamorgan
by Geoffrey Hill
 ISBN 978 1 901556 34 6 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 1 901556 35 3 (softbound)

384 pages with 95 black & white photos and 19 colour maps
£19.95 (soft cover) £24.95 (hard cover)
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'Industrial Locomotives of Gwent'
by Geoffrey Hill
ISBN 978 1 901556 08 5 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 1 901556 09 4 (softbound)

354 pages of text, including 23 four-colour location maps + 80 photos.

£19.95 (soft cover) £24.95 (hard cover) : One update list - 80p
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'Industrial Locomotives of North Staffordshire'
by Allan C.Baker
 ISBN 978 0 901096 97 5 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 0 901096 98 2 (softbound)

400 pages + 27 pages of maps and 144 photos.

£16.95 (soft): £19.95 (hard)

'Industrial Locomotives of South Staffordshire'
by R.M.Shill
 ISBN 978 0 901096 77 6 (hardbound)
ISBN 978 0 901096 78 4 (softbound)

172 pages incl. 11 pages of maps + 48 photos.

A small supply of hard cover copies have been discovered
(soft) sold out:  (hard) £17.00
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'Industrial Locomotives of East Anglia'
by C.Fisher
ISBN 978 0 901096 76 0 (softbound)

Covers the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
286 pages + location maps and 64 photos.

A few shop-soiled copies are still available for £7.00
 Four update lists - £2.50

'Industrial Locomotives of West Midlands'
by R.A.Shill
ISBN 978 0 901096 70 9 (softbound)

Covers the present county of West Midlands.
350 pages + location maps and 80 photos.

A small supply of soft cover copies have been discovered
(soft) £17.00:  (hard) sold out

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