EDWARD THOMPSON Wartime CME

Hardcover for life

I really liked this book, very much factual information, illustrated by excellent imagery. There was so much to read, that it took me some time, which is nice. The appendices are insightful and adding to the text.This is a worthy addition to my railroad library.

Fascinating read

As a life time railway enthusiast whilst I have my favourite loco’s I’ve always seen them as “ tools of trade” and so the skill of the CME is not just making the fastest or strongest but balanced by low running costs, low capital costs , big mileages between shopping, high availability etc. Edward Thompson has alway in the enthusiast world had a bad press as a destroyer of Gresleys legacy etc, a press I have long suspected was grossly unfair given when he was LNER CME and for a company that was alway short of funds. This book is a tour de force of fascinating data. The book is a true expose of the reality Edward Thompson faced and just looking at the data of distances between shoppings of his loco’s , he worked wonders. Far from being a destroyer of Gresley’s legacy I’d now argue he enhanced the legacy by showing a clearly way forward in very different economic times. A fascinating book and I can’t wait for the same treatment of Bulleid (which I suspect might be rather different!)

a good read

best book on the subject to date an excellent read at a bargain price