View source for Tri-ang Collectables by Dave Angell

{{infobox
|title=Tri-ang Collectables
|author=Dave Angell
|reviewer= James Donald
|genre=Reference
|summary= A bizarrely compelling but hugely geeky guide to a broad swathe of the history of Tri-ang trains.
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=96
|publisher= Amberley Publishing
|date=June 2017
|isbn=978-1445664576
|website=http://daveangell.co.uk/
|video=
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445664577</amazonuk>
}}
 
A guide to the trains produced by the Tri-ang company from its inception until the company became Hornby. A very personal guide to the collecting of model trains.
 
Collecting is a passionate thing to do. My comic book collecting took up about 80% of my disposable (and non-disposable) income during my time at university. People can get really het up about things they are passionate about – just look at football fans. It is obvious that Dave Angell is very, very passionate about trains.
 
There are two ways in which you can narrate this book in your head. The first is in a very disrespectful Jeremy Clarkson mock adenoidal tone. There is the case for this as the subject matter is very, very specialised. I preferred to have my internal narrative as a breathless excited child telling you all about his hobby.
 
There are huge gaps in this, huge problems with what the author was trying to achieve and huge issues with who the intended audience for this actually is. Huge problems… yet I didn't really care. Large passages of the book were just lists of slight variations of wheel configurations… yet I didn't care.
 
I've thought long and hard about this over the past week; why is it that I don't care about these shortcomings? It isn't just the author's enthusiasm there is more to it than that. As I alluded to earlier there are two ways to read this; you are either trapped and being talked at or you have chosen to stay because the preacher is so compelling. Dave Angell's editor should have forced him to give more detail in some places, to go wider and deeper into some areas and to stop referring the reader to other people's work but one thing he/she got exactly right was to ensure that his voice rang true throughout.
 
Who is this for? I've no idea. I suppose it is an introduction to the hobby but it fails in that regard. It is an introduction for collectors/geeks to see if we can catch the bug for another hobby from Dave, I guess.
 
I really, really expected this to be a slog but ultimately it was a trip that I enjoyed taking. It is a light and quick read but Dave Angell is so compelling that the lightness of it becomes a downside as you wish he had told you so much more.
 
Further reading: [[Collect Autographs: An Illustrated Guide to Collecting and Investing in Autographs by Fraser's Autographs]] as another guide to collecting and [[Railways (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts) by Julian Holland]] for more about trains.
 
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