Non-Pool Freight Stock 1948-1968: Privately-Owned and European Vehicles (Including APCM, Dorman Long, Esso & Gulf): Part 1 - Softcover

The first five Kestrel Railway Books volumes by David Larkin looked at the revenue-earning wagon fleet operated by British Railways and its successor, British Rail. These were followed by a series of three books looking at the specially-designed wagons that were used for track maintenance, and then three volumes covering the parcels and passenger-rated stock. This is the first of a series covering the ex-private owner fleet. When BR was created, it was intended that it should own all railway rolling stock, but legal action by some of the larger wagon-owning companies delayed things until 1951. Non-Pool wagons were defined as privately-owned wagons allowed to run over railways owned or operated by the British Transport Commission. This series sets out the types of wagon eligible to be classified as Non-Pool and lists them individually with details of numbers carried, capacity and registration details where known. Volume 1 covers owners with initials A to H, and Volume 2 (expected to be published in October 2016) deals with the remaining owners alphabetically.

David Larkin is a retired career railwayman who began photographing rolling stock in the late 1960s. He has amassed a huge collection of black and white images of freight stock, covering survivors from the 'Big Four' era right through to the present day. His meticulous observations and record-keeping are covered in this comprehensive series - five volumes dealing with British Railways and British Rail, three volumes covering the Civil Engineers' fleet, a further three volumes of parcels and non-passenger stock and now this, the first of his coverage of the ex-private owner fleet.