James I. C. Boyd
{{Short description|British historian and author}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James Ian Craig Boyd
| image =
| alt =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|3|31|df=yes}}
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|2|20|1921|3|31|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| nationality = English
| other_names =
| occupation = Author, Historian
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| notable_works =
}}
James Ian Craig Boyd (31 March 1921 – 20 February 2009) was an English author and narrow-gauge railway historian.
Boyd spent a lifetime researching and writing on narrow-gauge railways. His books on narrow-gauge railways in North and Mid Wales, the Isle of Man and Ireland are considered to be standard works on the subject. His books, published by The Oakwood Press since 1949, are rarely out of print, reflecting their importance to, and popularity with, railway historians and enthusiasts.
Biography
Boyd was born on 31 July 1921 into a family long connected with the Scottish textile machinery industry. His lifelong work was considerably helped by an inheritance from his family, without which much of his work could not have been done.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}}
In his formative years he had W. H. Auden as an English teacher{{cite news |title=JIC Boyd |journal=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4980928/JIC-Boyd.html |date=12 March 2009}} and was taught mathematics and science by Geoffrey Hoyland, a qualified railway engineer, at The Downs School in Colwall.{{Boyd-FR1}} After school he took over the family textile business, then based in Manchester.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/apr/10/obituary-jic-boyd |title=JIC Boyd |first=Peter |last=Johnson |authorlink=Peter Johnson (railway historian) |journal=The Guardian |date=10 Feb 2009}}
Boyd was an early volunteer on the Talyllyn Railway - the first volunteer-run heritage railway in the world. He organized the first regional working group of volunteers on the Talyllyn.{{cite book |title=The Railway Preservation Revolution |page=26 |first=Jonathan |last=Brown |publisher=Pen & Sword Transport Press |date=2017}} In 1949, he published his first Narrow-Gauge Rails to Portmadoc which described the history of the recently closed Ffestiniog Railway. This was popular and inspired the successful efforts to preserve and re-open the railway.{{cite news |title=Tribute to North Wales rail man |url=https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/tribute-north-wales-rail-man-2798180 |journal=North Wales Live |date=27 Feb 2009}} Much of his writing was focused on the {{RailGauge|3ft}} gauge railways of Ireland. Although his work is considered the standard for the railways covered, he did not always make it clear when his writing was factual and when it was his opinion of the facts.
Retiring from the textiles industry in the late 1960s, Boyd moved to Colwall and became a manager at the Downs School. At the same time, he was appointed to look after the {{RailGauge|9.5in}} gauge Downs Light Railway and started a twenty-year restoration that would ultimately result in his efforts being recognised with a miniature steam locomotive bearing his name. Boyd later retired from the school, but continued to fight to preserve the railway amidst Headmasters who failed to see the historical and educational importance, and led the formation of the Downs Light Railway Trust in 1983. Boyd continued to oversee the railway up to the millennium, despite suffering a stroke in the 1990s.
Works
- {{cite book |last=Boyd |first=James I.C. |author-link=James I. C. Boyd |year=1949 |title= Narrow Gauge Rails to Portmadoc: A Historical Survey of the Festiniog-Welsh Highland Railway and its Ancillaries |location=Headington |publisher=The Oakwood Press |asin =B0007JK554}}
- {{cite book |title=Narrow Gauge Rails to Portmadoc |publisher=Oakwood Press |date=1949 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=The Festiniog Railway |edition=1 |publisher=Oakwood Press |volume=1 |date=1956 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=The Festiniog Railway |edition=1 |publisher=Oakwood Press |volume=2 |date=1959 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{Boyd-FR1 |author-mask=2}}
- {{Boyd-FR2 |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=Isle of Man Railway |date=1962 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{Boyd-MidWales |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=Narrow Gauge Railway Museum |date=1972 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire |date=1972 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=On the Isle of Man Narrow Gauge |date=1978 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{Boyd-NCaerns1 |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=Narrow Gauge Railways in North Caernarvonshire, The Penrhyn Quarry Railways |volume=2 |isbn=0-85361-312-5 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=Narrow Gauge Railways in North Caernarvonshire, The Dinorwic Quarry and Railways, Great Orme Tramway and other rail systems |volume=3 |isbn=0-85361-328-1 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{Boyd-SCaerns1 |author-mask=2}}
- {{Boyd-SCaerns2 |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=The Isle of Man Railway, Pre-1873-1904 |volume=1 |isbn=0-85361-444-X |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=The Isle of Man Railway, 1905-1994 |volume=2 |isbn=0-85361-469-5 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=The Isle of Man Railway, The Routes and Rolling Stock |volume=3 |isbn=0-85361-479-2 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book|title=On the Welsh Narrow Gauge |date=1978 |isbn=0-85153-340-X |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book|title=Talyllyn Railway |date=1988 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book|title=Schull and Skibbereen Railway |isbn=0-85361-534-9 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{Boyd-WMCQR |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book|title=Don't Stand Up In The Tunnel, The Story of the Downs Light Railway and its young Engineers 1925-2001 |isbn=1-900622-04-1 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book|title=Saga by Rail |date=2007 |last=Boyd |first=James I. C. |author-mask=2}}
References
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Category:20th-century English historians
Category:English non-fiction writers
Category:Historians of technology
Category:English male non-fiction writers
Category:People educated at The Downs School, Herefordshire