A couple of posts back I mentioned referencing a long-owned book. I've had it so long that I got the title wrong. More on that in a mo. The publication date is 1965 and this edition is marked as 1968 though I'm guessing two things: 1) it's a new cover to take in decimalisation and 2) I bought it in 1974 or thereabouts. Even then it was very dated: the photos are mostly from the Cyril Freezer catalogue and represent 1950s modelling more than the 70s. However taking that into consideration, there were (and are) one or two inspiring shots included and much of the text is good solid stuff, though obviously long pre-DCC. The title reflects how we vocalise the scales and gauges now. The Gay Joe Guild while retaining the title must have long given up in favour of O gauge and so it was here – Starting in Scale OO has long morphed into OO gauge; probably even before I bought my copy.
The golddust is the set of standards on the inside cover and this gets looked at often including in the last couple of days vis-a-vis walling. It has of course been superseded most recently by Peco's big A4 bookazine style guide which is packed with a lot more in the way of track plans and constructional bits; not to mention a picture of David Malton (surely worth the cover price alone). However, despite having a copy of this I can't remember grabbing it to find something out, as good as it is. The price of £7 is probably comparable to the 25p of the older book and is half an inch thicker. Charm and inspiration? Can't touch it.
Starting in Scale OO is still around secondhand and if only for the standards table and the 4" nails holding the signal box up (thanks to Mr. Hill for pointing that out) it's worth getting a copy.
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