Eric Treacy's LMS

Sparkford: Oxford Publishing Co., 1988. 1st Edition. Hardback. Near Fine/Very Good. 192. 192 Pages with Black/White Photos. Near Fine book in Very Good unclipped DJ (£15.95). In ""Eric Treacy's LMS"", published some ten years after the untimely death of Bishop Treacy on Appleby station, the co-authors have succeeded in producing an album of Eric Treacy's railway photographs ""with a difference"". This book features photographs of London Midland and Scottish Railway (""LMS"") steam locomotives and their trains in classic LMS locations and some of Treacy's favourite haunts. Many of the images are the trademark three-quarters front view captured in superb detail mainly with large format cameras. However that is where the similarity with other books of Treacy's work stops. David Jenkinson, now sadly also no longer with us, has utilised his own detailed knowledge of all things LMS to provide extended captions to the images, with engine and coaching stock numbers and livery detail providing clues as to the probable year the photograph was taken. Eric Treacy rarely kept notes of when a particular photograph was taken, so the informed detective work of David Jenkinson is invaluable. The reader is also encouraged to look beyond the locomotive and its train to view the wider railway scene and what it tells us. Indeed Jenkinson has in a number of instances deliberately had the full image from the negative or plate reproduced, rather than a cropped image of the train. Some of the images do not show a train at all, and are included to show classic LMS locations in the landscape. This book is highly recommended, even if you possess other books of Eric Treacy's work. This one is truly different.