Montague Smith's Scottish Railway Album 1927-1962

The late Montague Smith was a Scottish railway enthusiast who devoted much of his life to a study of the steam locomotive. He was an acknowledged authority on many aspects of locomotive design and also a well-qualified photographer. His 'home territory' was in and around Glasgow and down the former Caledonian stretch of the West Coast Main Line as far as Beattock. In this book, we make our way from Glasgow Central to Symington, junction for the Peebles Branch on which Monty took many photographs while holidaying in Biggar (the most important intermediate town on the branch) for the whole of August for many years. Often with a camera to hand, he took many photographs, not only of the locomotives but also of their crews and other railwaymen involved in the work of the branch. Most of the locomotives were of Caledonian Railway origin, McIntosh and Pickersgill 4-4-0s and 0-6-0s, but early LM&SR standard classes such as Compounds, 4F 0-6-0s, 2P 4-4-0s and Hughes Crab class 2-6-0s also played their part.