Camden Miniature Steam Services

John Snell was with Tom Rolt and David Curwen when they opened the doors of Pendre Shed at Towyn in April 1951, starting the worldwide preservation movement, and he retired in 1999 after 28 years as General Manager of the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway. Between times he has always been actively involved with railways on many fronts, including writing or contributing to numerous books on railways; his only novel, published in 1958, must be the only family saga set against the background of a Welsh narrow gauge railway - see Jennie.

John has travelled widely, always with camera to hand. What is surprising is that very few examples of his photography have been published before and, as is very evident here, he is fully the equal of the well known photographers from the 1950s on - Derek Cross, W. V. Anderson, Eric Treacy, Marc Dahlstom, Felix Fenino et al., although he was perhaps a more enthusiastic, and earlier, user of colour than most.

If you were into railways, home and ‘abroad’, from the 1950s to the mid 1970s in particular, this is incredibly nostalgic and will bring the memories flooding back. If you are too young, just see what you missed! Not that this book stops in the 70s - it continues much later in South America, and South Africa in particular.

The text is a delight, being informative and interesting, with an underlying dry humour, but it is the photographs that will take your breath away. Whilst the locomotive or train is always the centrepiece, these are not sterile photographs of lumps of machinery, but are full of life with lots of incidental details, which is why we chose a large landscape format - 245 mm x 297 mm, with a good number of the photographs printed absolutely full page. And there are a lot of photographs - 386 in full colour and 48 in black & white.

The main chapters cover: The U.K in the 1950s,  Fiji and the sugar cane railways, Wales - mainly, but not exclusively, the Talyllyn, New Zealand, Australia, Scandinavia, France, Spain and Portugal, Java and Thailand, Germany, the U.S.A., Switzerland, Austria and Italy, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Rumania and Czechoslovakia, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru, South Africa, and the Last of British Steam.

There are 256 pages, so this is a big book in every way, and we are sure that it is one you will enjoy for many years to come.  Give yourself a huge treat! Hardbound. Camden

To my mind, "Mixed Gauges" is quite the best railway volume I have ever seen. To surpass such classics as "The Great Steam Trek" for instance, is no mean feat. But, in my opinion, nothing compares with this magnificent volume.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Mr. Peter Mellor - review in 'The New Zealand Railway Observer' No. 291

Mixed Gauges" has surpassed even the high hopes and expectations I had of it. It is quite superb.
 Mr. G.T.      Essex

You cannot look through this book only once and then put it away - Browse again and again and enjoy something different every time!
 Mr. George M Hoekstra - Review in SWISS EXPRESS

Modern scanning and processing technology has done very well with the reproduction of old colour originals. .........  In short, this is a wonderful account of travel in the age of steam encapsulating a past world of railways which few enthusiasts were able to experience. We must thank John Snell for sharing his probably unparalleled experiences, and Camden for presenting the result so stylishly and successfully.
 Review - 'Continental Modeller' February 2008

I received the copy of 'Mixed Gauges', which is absolutely superb in every respect. The cover photo is a knockout - better than Monet. And I am so fed up with seeing digital, telephoto, 'glint' shots, that to see these lovely conventional slides reproduced so well is a delight. The layout of the book is nice, too (speaking as a former graphic designer).
Mr. C.L.     France

The 400 plus pictures, mostly by the author, are almost all in colour and convey in often dramatic form the power and diversity of steam world-wide in its declining years.....The Main lines get plenty of attention, but the author is also skilled at seeking out lesser byways of foreign railways.  ....this is quite a special book, and for anyone who wishes to find out (or be reminded) what the steam era looked like in its final years before diesels and electrics took over, this is a splendid volume.
Mr. Brian Knowlman - Review in 'National Railway Museum Review'

The landscape format of this book superbly brings out the best in (John Snell's) colour studies, some evocative, others moody, many simple record shots, but nonetheless invaluable as they are never-to-be-repeated...... Not only is this a landmark book covering the steam autobiography of one of the movement's leading lights, but it is a beautiful presentation volume that you will want to dip into again and again.....
 Review - 'Heritage Railway' February/March 2008

This book is an entertaining and informative read......, richly illustrated with a lot of very good photographs, some of which are truly spectacular. I recommend you get a copy, you will enjoy it
Mr. David Proctor, Editor, review in 'Australian Model Engineering' March/April 2008

Altogether this is a fascinating book, the reader’s attention never being allowed to lapse due to the high quality of the text. The relatively high cost is well justified by the superb standard of production and the high quality photographs. A highly recommended publication......
JFO review in the Summer 2008 issue of ‘Cyfnodolyn Rheilffordd Ffestiniog Railway Magazine’

John Snell is probably best known as one of the pioneers who set about preserving the Talyllyn  Railway in 1951....... He will have less recognition as a skilled railway photographer - until people have seen this volume! The text describes John’s travels and adventures, with wry asides and fascinating insights, but while the writing sets the scen, it is the pictures that fascinate and amaze.
Review in the June 2008 issue of ‘The Railway Magazine’

John’s skills as a photographer seem to have been kept a secret! His work should rank along with the great names of railway photography! The cost is higher than the average railway book, but this is not your average railway book by any means, so make space in your bookshelf, go and treat yourself, or put it on your birthday list, you will not be disappointed.
Mr Bob Jones and other, review in ‘The Heywood Society Journal’ - Spring 2008