Note of appreciation from MP (14/09/2017)
I ordered 2 copies of Southern Sunset '67 and am absolutely delighted with the book. Lots of useful information, lots of new photos I hadn't seen before especially the last one as we travelled on the Waterloo Sunset! Have recommended it to several friends. Very pleased to have signed copies as well. Excellent service.
Review by KW (Amazon)
Whereas I was travelling ON the train services often depicted throughout, John Bird was to be found in a myriad of locations photographing them. I don't know of another publication which details EVERY locomotive on the books of either a shed or region so comprehensively - an innovative idea of sheer genius. It brought back a great deal of happy memories - of locations, of locomotives that were an everyday scene to a London/Southampton season ticket holder like myself. Recommended reading for any SR fan.
Review by D Johnson (Amazon purchaser)
I knew that any book by this author is always worth adding to a collection and Southern Sunset '67 certainly didn't' disappoint, that said I couldn't bring myself to open every page straight away as it should be savored just like a fine wine...absolutely wonderful !
Review by JOE (Belfast)
Readers of John Bird’s “Southern Steam Surrender” will have greatly anticipated “Southern Sunset 67”. They will not be disappointed either. His earlier book told the story definitively. This one illustrates every steamable engine on the Southern region at work during that last year. It’s a remarkable compilation by John himself, and a group of other photographers who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
The ‘usual’ photographs are there in plenty – one of the best is a real stunner at Walton on Thames on page 30 - and Platform 14 has done a magnificent job of reproduction in their first book venture.
But the real value is in the unusual, and that is the major strength of this collection.
Unusual places like the tiny shed at Southampton Docks. Unusual operations, like 73113 coming off a single line possession at Sway – with two Pullman camping coaches in the yard too – and the lifting train on the Ringwood line at Ashley Heath. Rarely photographed workings - like 34090 on the weedkilling train at Woolston, 34036 on a train of Ford Carflats near Byfleet Junction, 73029 on a Fawley Oil Train at Millbrook, 75068 on a train of long-welded rail at St Denys, and even the weed-killing train on the remains of the Meon Valley Line. Unusual routes –John’s railway connections allowed him to photograph trains diverted off the Bournemouth line for engineering work. He was fortunate to capture 34002 at Hamble Halt, and 34098 at Bursledon.
Special trains too. There’s a lovely shot of 35026 At Doncaster, a view of 80145 at Wimbledon Park with no less than three headboards, and for good measure a whole section devoted to some of the farewell specials of 1967.
Secondary lines are not neglected either, and there’s good coverage of the Lymington and Swanage branches, as well as the remains of steam on the Isle of Wight.
The last week of steam in July 1967 has been exhaustively covered in many books and magazines – but John has found some unusual angles. The clearout of Guildford shed, and the diminutive 30072 steaming defiantly to her last destination at Salisbury. 34095 at Westbury on the very last day, ready for her last trip to Weymouth after bringing in a van train. 35030 backing out of the platform at Waterloo after working the final steam passenger train from Weymouth. Colin Stone’s evocative picture of the very last train – vans from Bournemouth to Weymouth in the gathering dusk.
Even the disposal of the engines provided some rather sad interest: an immaculate 34002 at Gloucester, cleaned by a group of local enthusiasts en route to the scrapyard; two sister engines at Bristol Bath Road on a similar journey, purloined for a depot open day.
Publication of this book was obviously held so that the two 2017 commemorative specials could be included, and the last page is a masterstroke. The “Waterloo Sunset” special of 9 July 2017 was brilliantly juxtaposed with the 14.07 ex Weymouth on 9 July 1967. From the age of the roll-film camera to the age of the Smart Phone – and the steam locomotive still at centre point!
People of my generation who savoured the last year of steam will find a feast of memories among these pictures. Younger folk who would love to have been there can access a rare portrayal of a now lost age through this beautiful book.