I found this very disappointing. The title implies something fairly general, but in fact it is an almost obsessive study of physical trivia about the minutiae of the hardware - and much of it is diagrams, not pictures. Recommended only to those fascinated by matters of tiny detail that most people would be perfectly happy not knowing about. For instance, this is definitely a book for you if you are fascinated by whether the nameplates on signalboxes had rounded or straight corners, or by the dimensions of the tie rods for gantry stanchions.