Most of the books that have passed in front of me in recent times have been for professional review. However I bought this book when I realised that it had appeared. Disappointed? More on that in a mo.
Long term appreciation
I fist tripped over Phillip Harvey’s Amberdale in MRJ and was immediately struck by the atmosphere despite the use of Peco code 100 track in what was, and still is, a rather elitist finescale publication. Built in an 11’ square room in fully cased display scenes and is by the author’s definition ‘freelance’ although the influence of the GWR and LSWR is clear, with a nod to the NER. To my knowledge it has only appeared in two articles in MRJ (though may be in RM in the future). The book is mainly photographic, and this shows the author's leaning toward two personal influences: John Ahearn’s Madder Valley for the overall style and Pendon Museum for many of the scenic techniques. Much is made of selective compression and in some cases forced perspective. The period represented is the late 19th century meaning trains are short and this adds to the ability to make the scenes appear much larger than they really are.
A design problem
The downside of the text is that there is little in the way of explanation of construction techniques, though to the trained eye much is fairly easy to guess at. There is no descriptive body text until page 123 excepting short social history paragraphs supporting captioned photos, the author preferring to explain the why, more than the how.
The disappointment is the size of the photos which could have easily been reproduced at two per page instead of up to five tiny images per page. I’m guessing that this is partly due to a self-publish angle and the desire to include every detail of the layout rather than select certain broader aspects of interest. An A4 format with 30% fewer, but larger images would have improved matters considerably and shown the considerable detail off to advantage. Including every horse drawn vehicle, however well-built, seems a trifle wasteful.
If this design niggle can be put to one side, this is an incredibly inspiring volume for all railway modellers and if you have a liking for Ahearn-ian style traditional modelling it's definitely worth picking up as it's surely a contender for the title of best freelance model railway.
It sounds like your professional eye has made you more discerning. I think it happens to all of us who are critical of our own work.
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