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RODEN, ANDREW: : THE DUCHESSES: THE STORY OF BRITAIN'S ULTIMATE STEAM LOCOMOTIVES.

LONDON.AURUM PRESS LIMITED,2008.

ISBN 9871845133696.

UK,small 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE+/NFINE+.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,matt,colour illustrated dw/dj panels,black capitalised lettering to front, similarly coloured lettering to a faint, partially sunned spine/backstrip,rear panel with critics' black lettered reviews; all with negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present. Top+fore-edges bright and clean without foxing/ spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners – pristine - possibly unread apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp, unblemished,sharp-cornered,original,plain navy blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering to spine/backstrip and immaculate/ clean plain navy blue endpapers.UK,small 8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edn,2-248pp [paginated] includes 29 chapters,8pp contemporary b/w+colour photographs in 1 block between pp120/21,acknowledgements,a 2pp bibliography,2pp technical information and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a contents list/table and a b/w map of Britain's railways associated with the Duchesses,with a blank verso. Visually the exterior appearance is still exceptional for a book of it's age,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It is only the minimal and minor exterior faults described that prevent a higher grading.Despite them,it really is an exceptional copy for brightness and cleanliness. If MALLARD was the world's fastest steam locomotive,and Flying Scotsman the most famous, then the Duchesses,as many steam fans will tell you,were the finest and most powerful steam engines ever built in Britain. The class began life in the Thirties as the 'Princess Coronation' class,conceived by the London,Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) to be the flagships of the West Coast main line and rival the LNER's illustrious streamlined 'Pacific' class locomotives on the East Coast,of which MALLARD is the most celebrated survivor. Designed by the great William Stanier,the Coronationlocomotives were originally streamlined too,but whereas MALLARD's profile was that of a rakish Bugatti sports car, Stanier's creations were embodiments of raw bulked-up muscle. Andrew Roden's book,the successor to his extremely successful volume on 'Flying Scotsman',tells the full story of these fabulously powerful locomotives' life,through their time in British Railways service,during which their streamlining was removed; then,with the end of steam in Britain,the extraordinary saga of the saving of two of the class by none other than Billy Butlin,who put them on static display at his holiday camps.Finally he can tell the gladdening tale of how both Duchess of Hamilton and Duchess of Sutherland were eventually rescued,fully restored and returned to steam on the main line,and,in the case of Duchess of Hamilton,its remarkable and much-heralded rebuld to original streamlined form at the National Railway Museum. Andrew Roden has talked to surviving drivers and firemen,as well as to those who made the preservation effort a success,to tell the compelling story of one of Britain's finest engineering achievements,of a locomotive lineage the redefined high-speed rail travel in this country before the war,and whose survivors continue to thrill and awe us to this day as they thunder along the main line at the head of a packed train. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,small 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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