Irish Steam in the 1960s - End of an Era, by Conrad Natzio
Published by Colourpoint in 2017, 160 pages. Paperback - 21cm by 26cm (N6846)
Brand New Book
Brand New Book
From the rear side cover: This is a personal photographic record of a distinctive time on the Irish railway system. Covering the period around 1960–1963, and made up of largely unpublished images, the photographs might seem to suggest at first glance that the steam locomotive still reigned supreme on the railways of Ireland. However this was truly the end of an era – the initial dieselisation programme of CIÉ had been completed some years earlier, though hardly comprehensive, and although the UTA had embarked on its move to multi-purpose railcars in 1958 it too was still far short of a complete modernisation.
What still existed therefore was a perhaps surprisingly extensive and varied collection of steam locomotives for the enthusiast to seek out, photograph, and travel behind. The author treats us to a tour of the network north and south taking in the Great Northern mainline and branches, NCC lines, the Derry Road and Bangor line, suburban traffic around Belfast and Dublin, some of CIÉ’s rural survivals and a look around the GSR network on ballast trains and seasonal beet workings.