This book presents a selection of the author's best photographs from his travels around the word between 1975 and 2019.
Published in February 2023 by Amberley Publishing and written by Peter J. Green, this soft cover book measures around 23.4 cm x 16.5 cm, and has 96 pages and 180 illustrations. It has a published price of £15.99 although Amberley Publishing currently has it on offer at £14.39, and at the time of writing, it can be obtained from Amazon for £7.90.
The author appears to be a bit of a globetrotter, as he has travelled extensively around six of the seven continents of the world. From these travels, he has selected what he considers some of his best railway photographs taken in 45 countries between 1975 and 2019.
An Introduction in which the author describes how he became interested in railway photography is followed by 45 sections, one for each country, starting with Australia and concluding with Zimbabwe.
With such a vast area of coverage, it is understandable why the author has not included any maps in the book, so to get the best out of the book, Google Maps will be a constant companion.
The rear cover suggests that rewarding destinations for the author include the USA and Canada, with their impressive freight trains, and many parts of Asia, where diesel-hauled passenger trains regularly run through interesting landscapes.
However, to cover 45 countries in a book of just 96 pages, the number of photos for each country will be severely limited, and while there are photos of impressive freight trains in the USA and Canada, most photos from Asian countries are in rural settings.
I assume that the countries covered are those that the author has visited, but there are some notable omissions, with among others, Peru being the only representative from South America and South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe the only ones from Africa,
Looking rather similar except for their liveries are the four Australian locomotives seen below. It is surprising that eight photographs have been included in this section, whereas some other sections only merit a single image. Also, although the book covers 45 countries, there are no examples from New Zealand, possibly because the author had never visited the country.
In general, the captions provide sufficient information to describe the photos, without being so long that the available space for the accompanying photos is reduced.
Most captions include details such as operating company, type of locomotive, location, train destination, and type of train. However, many of the locations are obscure, such as Serbian examples below.
One of the captions reads “After travelling over the Šargan Eight, narrow-gauge B-B diesel-hydraulic No. 740.101 arrives at Šargan Vitasi with a train from Mokra Gora. The 760-mm gauge locomotive was built in 1970 by Đuro Đaković at Slavonski Brod. I'm sure Google Maps will come in handy to find where these obscure places are to be found.
The left-hand page below shows two of the four photos illustrating diesel locomotives from Ukraine, but one wonders whether these will have suffered damage during Russia's current invasion of the country.
Only two images are included to represent the United Kingdom, which I assume is because British diesel locomotives will be familiar to most purchasers of the book.
No book illustrating railways in the USA would be complete without images of trains through the Rocky Mountains. Although they don't feature in the book, the images below provide a good substitute with trains passing through the Cajon Pass between the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California.
The book starts with eight images from Australia, yet for Zambia below and the section on South Africa, there is just a single photograph. Also, Zambia and Zimbabwe seen below, along with South Africa, are the only representatives from the entire African continent.
The first thing to say about this book is that it certainly lives up to its “Diesel Locomotives Around The World” title, with illustrations of diesel locomotives from 45 different countries.
However, there doesn't seem to be a common theme, with some images showing locomotives on shed between duties or standing idle in stations, others show local passenger trains or long-distance expresses, while there are a variety of freights to maintain interest.
What does soon become evident is the large numbers of locomotive manufacturers represented. Taking Germany for example, there are locomotives built, among others, by Lokomotivbau Karl Mark, 23 August Locomotive Works in Romania, and Lokomotivbau Technische in Henningsdorf. Or Poland, with examples built in Poland by Cegielski and Fablok, and in Romania by Electroputere (which also built some Class 56s for the UK) and FAUR.
Most of the images are well-composed and show the locomotives or trains in their operating environment. Peru stands out, not only as the only South American country in the book but for the variety of trains, from a passenger train threading through a crowded street near Machu Picchu to a charter train high up in the Andes at Galera where a station sign announces that it is 15,681 feet above sea level.
There is an unbalance in the coverage of each country, such as eight images from Australia and just one each from South Africa and Zambia, and the section on China which has four images of identical classes of locomotive.
With such a vast area of coverage, it is understandable why there are no maps. In general, the captions provide sufficient information to describe the photos, but as many have obscure place names, Google Maps will surely be a constant companion.
This book will provide plenty of interest for anyone who wishes to view examples of locomotives at work in countries around the world. It is not a detailed look at any particular country, but is recommended as a general appreciation of the different varieties and types to be encountered during international travels.
The book is available to purchase from Amazon and from Amberley Publishing.
We would like to thank Amberley Publishing for providing us with a copy of the book for review.
