Shale and Shays by Mark Langdon

The fight for Shale Oil from the Wolgan Valley

Eveleigh Press £42

300 Pages with Black & White Photos and Drawings. Mark Langdon presents a fresh look at the exhilarating shale-oil mining days of 1906 1932 in the Wolgan Valley in New South Wales. The book begins with the story of the Commonwealth Oil Corporation s (C.O.C.) inception, continues through the building of the works at Newnes and the railway to Newnes Junction, and rounds out with the final days in the 1930s. Special attention has been given to the railway locomotives and rolling stock including exhaustive research detailing the building and use of the railway that carried the precious shale and oil to the main line. Each vehicle type built specifically for and purchased by the C.O.C. is covered, with a history and photos and a scale drawing of each vehicle type included.