Friday, February 03, 2017

Book Review: Tasmania Railways in Preservation by Robert Sweet

Publisher: Mainline & Maritime Ltd

ISBN: 987-1-900340-28-1

A5 Softback

36 pages

£6.95

Tasmania is an island state of Australia 240 miles south of the main island. Covering 64,519 square kilometres, it's home to a dozen heritage railways plus a few other sites with railway interest, all of which are briefly covered by this little book.

The first thing that strikes me is just how familiar much of the rolling stock is. A couple of 04 shunters appear and the Hobart Municiple trams at the Tasmanian Transport Museum could be sat at the UK tram museum at Crich. Despite this, they were built in Australia, but this just shows how close the ties are between the two countries.

Each location gets around 4 or 5 pages so it is necessarily brief, but this includes several intriguing photos as well. As a primer to somewhere you don't know, for most readers, this is ideal. It would also fit nicely in a suitcase if you are planning a holiday in Tasmania.

Modellers may find many of the locations would make interesting layout inspirations too. Many are ex industrial lines and there are some interesting features - the West Coat Wilderness Railway can only run around the trains by using the turntable, a real prototype for anything.

As will all publications from M&M, the production quality is excellent with all photos superbly reproduced and clear, well written text.

Well worth a read if you fancy something a little off the beaten track.

Buy this book from Mainline & Maritime.

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