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FORTY SHADES OF STEAM - THE STORY OF THE RPSI

Joe Cassells and Charles Friel

Colourpoint Books, Colourpoint House, Jubilee Business Park, 21 Jubilee Road, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT23 4YH.

ISBN 1 904242 26 X; Stg£12.00

This publication is in effect a company history of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, dealing with all aspects of same from setup, through its development phase, right up to today.

Lists given in the book are devoted to:

Film contracts in which RPSI stock was used,

Locomotives,

Carriages,

Details of all trains operated by the RPSI.

Wagons

The biggest part of the book is given over to photographs of RSPI activities, all in colour. Whilst it would be hard for a site devoted to the non trainspotting aspects of railways to enthuse about a book detailing the history of a train operating railway society, Colourpoint haven't helped by letting a number of factual errors slip in. Errors noted are:

There are only 4 Bray Head tunnels, not 5. In addition, the tunnel in the background was bypassed due to engineering defects in its southern approach and not coastal erosion and the photo shown is between Tunnels 2 and 3 and not 3 and 4,

On the same page, the estuary north of Malahide is the Broadmeadow and not Broadwater,

A photograph of Foynes is described as Fenit.

This represents a drop in Colourpoint's usual high standards and hopefully is a one off blip. All things considered, even at only Stg£12.00, this one is for the die hard train enthusiast only.