Reviews

New South Wales Railways in Colour 1855–1957 by Garry Saunders with drawings by Greg Edwards. Published by Eveleigh Press, PO Box 345, Matraville 2036. Ph: 02 9311 2036. Website: www.australianmodelrailways. com. Price: $145.00 (plus P&P).

Hot on the heels of Ian Dunn’s Goods Wagons of the NSW Railways 1855-1905 comes another seminal publication from Eveleigh Press. This sizeable tome, by Garry Saunders, raises the bar even further and is destined to be regarded as one of the most meticulously researched books yet seen on an Australian railway subject. Although the main topic is the many liveries from the various administrations of NSW railways 1855-1957, there is an abundance of rare historic photographs and fascinating side tracks into many other aspects of NSW railway history.

This comprehensively detailed, lavishly illustrated and weighty tome sets out to become a definitive record of a subject that has fomented endless debate, sometimes unrestrained, among the cognoscenti for decades: the variations in liveries of NSW locomotives and rolling stock. A stumbling block in the examination of this subject has been the paucity of colour photographs pre-World War Two. This deficiency has been addressed by giving full rein to the artistic skills of noted illustrator, Greg Edwards, better known for his black and white line drawings of locomotives and rolling stock, retailed under his Data Sheets label. In this volume, Greg has been granted licence to explore the full colour palette.

To achieve accuracy, the author has painstakingly obtained many original samples from the fabric of historic NSW rolling stock and these have been scientifically examined for their pigments, colour shades and paint brands. By carefully wielding a scalpel, earlier fragments of paint have been obtained and examined under a microscope. As well, countless archival documents have been trawled through. Particularly useful were the NSW Railways Stores Lists in the NSW Government Gazette from 1859 on, where bulk colour pigment orders were tabled.

New South Wales is the setting for the first government railway in the British Empire. Thus, it was inevitable that imported engineers from the mother country would determine the early decision making. Firstly, James McConnell drew on his experience of materials and liveries connected to English carriage builders Wright and Sons, with a link to the great