Someone wants to buy me a book for my birthday, I remember reading many years ago that Edward Beal had written a lot on lineside industries, in which I am interested. Trouble is I don't know if this was in just one of his several books. I suspect the West Midland Line book would be a good bet but does anyone have any recommendations re Beal's books?
I'm a carer so can't afford to buy the lot, and the person who wants to get me a book isn't too well off either, so it'd be nice to get the best of the bunch as it were.
My favourite Beal book is West Midland. I like the way he tells the history of his various layouts and the reasons why they developed in the way they did.
However, for what you are looking for I would recommend Railway Modelling in Miniature.
Note that these books were written over 60 years ago so although some of the pictures and sketches may be of use, the constructional techniques probably will not.
Just as an aside on old methods, I saw some S scale coaches last weekend which were made recently, and of shellacked card. They were of superb quality and were as good as, if not better than, something made with styrene sheet. Apparently the shellacked card was glued using meths - the meths softening the shellac to form a bond. So some old methods might be making a comeback :-)
Many thanks - I'll ask for the Railway Modelling in Miniature book. Some time ago I put up the notes written in the 1980s for my God son on the web, the 'lineside industries' bit is in need of a proper re-write (although I have added a few pictures over time). It is a non-commercial site, doesn't even have any adverts on it, and still very rough, but I think it could end up being a useful resource if I can make a good enough job of it. We are having dinner with a chap who used to work in a sand and gravel quarry this weekend, with any luck I'll glean some interesting insights. What I have done so far is at:
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As I said, still very rough.
I actually like playing with the older methods of making things, John Ahern was a major influence on my early years in the hobby and I still refer to his books occasionally. Haven't used shellacked card for about thirty years - Must have another go at that! It's as easy to work with as plastic card, easier to fret out but not so good if you need to scribe it, and (depending on the brand of tea you drink) can be a lot cheaper. It strikes me that an 'Alan Downes' type embossing tool could be used to add a brick pattern to thicker card, and I have some ferric chloride in a jar somewhere . . . . .
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