Book Recommendations?

Hi all,
I'm sure I saw a thread of this type a while back, but blowed if I can find it using the search... If I'm duplicating perhaps somebody could merge it?

Anyhow-I'm trying to build up my collection of railway books at the mo. I'm particularly interested in footplate reminiscences (really enjoyed Mendips Engineman for instance), but looking through second hand stalls I've seen a very mixed bag. Has anybody got any suggestions? Are there any absolute classics I need to have? Or for that matter, any to avoid like the plague?

Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

'Behind the Steam' reminiscences of Bill Morgan,driver and fireman at Neyland, as told to his daughter Bette Meyrick - Hutchinson 1973. Almost certainly out of print. Stories of driving 'Bulldogs','Dukes' etc and shooting rabbits from the footplate - classic stuff!

 

A purely subjective view:

Amongst the "classical" authors, C Hamilton-Ellis wrote widely and always with an attractive style, without dumbing down (you get a slight impression that he assumed his readers all had a decent classical education, given the allusions he sometimes uses!) He was very good on the political and social history of railways, but not the person to read if you want nuts and bolts.

Classic CHE? try "Four main lines", covering in accessible style the origins and development of the West Coast Mainline, East Coast Mainline, South Western Mainline and the Great Western Mainline.

OS Nock is much more a "nuts and bolts" author, but I think wrote too many books, especially later in life, so you get a lot about locomotive performance, but in rather dry style of looking at logs of good and bad runs, but without necessarily giving a picture of what the other circumstances on the day may have been. That said, his best books are very good, and - not surprisingly given his day job with Westinghouse brake and signal - he is particularly strong on the more technical side of signalling and safety.

Classic OS Nock? "The railway race to the north" is one of his better books, an interesting story well told without being as dry as some of his other books.

Tom Rolt is another with a very readable style, and he wrote widely on railways, canals and engineering biographies. "Red for Danger" is pretty much a set text for anyone involved in the operations of railways, but for a real classic, try "Railway Adventure", covering trials and tribulations of the first season or two of the revived Talyllyn Railway, and marvel at just how much railway preservation has changed in sixty years, both for good and ill.

Tom

 

Thanks chaps! Haven't heard of Behind the Steam but will look out for it. Not tried any CHE before, but I have Historic Railway Disasters by Nock. Railway Adventure and Red for Danger I do have and they're crackers! So far this year I've found Bill Hoole: Engineman Extraordinaire, Steam in the Blood by Dick Hardy, and Sixty Years of Steam by Bill Harvey (currently the best one I've read-lots of anecdotes to balance the formulae!)

 

In his way as stylish a writer as C. Hamilton-Ellis was David L. Smith whose "Tales of the Glasgow and South Western Railway are an entertaining as well as a perceptive account of what must have been a very hard way of life. These two writers are by some way the best as far as I am concerned.

PH

 

"From the Footplate: Atlantic Coast Express" by Stephen Austin is a good one (Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-1822-7).

It covers a single journey of the ACE from Waterloo to Padstow (a composite of what it was like in general, not a specific journey), starting with preparation of the loco in Nine Elms and finishing, many hours later, shutting the cab door of a sleeping Bulleid on Wadebridge Shed. In between, it shows just how much work was involved, by many many people, for the seemingly simple act of moving a train from London to the West Country. An excellent read and well illustrated.

For a view from the shed in pre-grouping days, try " 'LBSC' Footplate Experiences - Reminiscences of New Cross" by "Curly" Lawrence. It is an excellent and entertaining account of life on New Cross Loco around the turn of the century, with some hilarious stories. Curly Lawrence had a fairly short career as cleaner and fireman on the LBSCR, but subsequently found fame (as "LBSC", hence the book title) as a designer and builder of live steam model locomotives. Oakwood Press, ISBN 0-85631-498-9.

Tom

 

Arguably the first 'whistleblower' account of railway life is Alfred Williams' account of his time at Swindon - 'Life In A Railway Factory' published in 1915.

http://www.alfredwilliams.org.uk/railwayfactory.html

Not a rose-tinted account by any means, and still polarises opinion to this day.

 

I'll offer a few as this is the type of book that I've also really enjoyed reading:

Steam was My Calling - E.S. Beavor - Not footplate reminiscences necessarily but life as a shed master amongst the chapters at a few different locations.

Steam Days at Haymarket - Harry Knox - taken directly from the front cover "The collected Reminiscences of shed life both on and off the footplate"

Castles to Warships - Jack Gardner - on the Great Western footplate starting his life as a cleaner then progressing through the ranks to become a driver.

All thoroughly recommended.

 

For a slightly different option, you could try H. Hobden's 'Sussex Engineman' - he worked his was up to passed fireman on the Southern at a relatively small depot and his book shows the reality of slow promotion (and occasional demotion as staff numbers were cut) and relatively menial work - not everyone made the top link express runs and someone had to drive the pick-up goods. After this you can go on to the interesting (to me anyway) 'Sussex Motorman' where he decided to move away from steam and drove the Southern electric trains for the rest of his career, something no-one else seems to have written much about. Neither book is perfectly written, but you can enjoy them for the content.

I am also currently half way through 'Fiennes on Rails' which seems to be the great Gerrard Fiennes basically telling stories and anecdotes that show his journey up to General Manager and the lessons he learned along the way. This book is just brilliant, just buy it!

Also superbly written and very interesting is W. Orr's 'Set Up Running' which is his biography of his Pennsylvania Railway Engineer father. It is really good and fascinating for how they did things differently to us.

My last recommendation is to buy some overalls, volunteer and make your own memories!

 

Thanks chaps, great suggestions! Will have a good start on the Christmas list for the wife ;-)

Tom-I've read the Curly Lawrence one, very interesting, am I right in saying the book was originally letters to Bluebell News?

Andrew-fully intending on volunteering more now wedding is out of the way-have got a nice burn on my left arm from cleaning the H class at the Bluebell a couple of weeks ago! The Hobden ones I've flicked through, they look worth a go. If you're interested in the Sussex scene, Yesterday Once More is absolutely fantastic, it's the memories of a chap called George Washington who started as a cleaner at Brighton in LBSC days and worked his way up-I'm from Brighton originally so found it particularly interesting.

Dublo-will check them out!

And K14-just had a look at the website, very impressed that you can read the whole book online-will be bookmarking that page and coming back to it...

 

Behind the Steam has been fairly recently reprinted. Definitely the best of this style of book I've read, but not for the GWR hater!
There is also a series of books by Harold Gasson, who was a Didcot fireman, Firing days -> Signalling days which are a good read. I think there's some suggestion he used author's license in telling all the best stories from his mates as if they'd happened to him personally, but it does make for a better read that way.

 

More on the autobiographical theme of day to day life on the railway as opposed to overviews by classical authors look out for -

'Enginemen Elite' by Norman McKillop ['Toram Beg'] - an autobiographical account of his progress from the North British Railway to the LNER as a top link driver on the ECML and his famous association with the A3 'Spearmint'. Published by Ian Allan 1972.

'All Steamed Up' by Campbell Highet - service with the Midland Rauilway at Derby Works and then through the motive power department at Edge Hill, Birkenhead North, Chester , Llandudno, Accrington and Bank Hall. Interesting for a northerner like myself. Oxford Publishing Co 1975.

 

The Nostalgia Collection www.nostalgiacollection.com (part of Silver Link Publishing - SLP) includes a series "Working Lives". I've got "A Locoman's Log" by Bill Alcock which covers his railway life in the Birmingham area from 1937 to 1985 - so it unusually covers the transition from steam to diesel. Another book by SLP is Terry Essery's "Saltley Firing Days" but covering a much shorter period from 1950-59. Also in the "Working Lives" series is "Home and Distant" by Brian Grant, who started as an apprentice fitter in 1952 and had got to BRB HQ by the time he retired in 1993. Another different view of railway life to footplate stories, that of the operating side of railways, (yet another SLP book!) is "That was my railway" by Frank L. Hick who started in 1922 as a junior clerk and rose to a senior post in BR by 1969.

Adrian Vaughan's autobiographical books "Signalman's Morning", "Signalman's Twilight" and "Signalman's Nightmare", while obviously detailing much of his signalling life, also cover his trips on the footplate, which are interesting!

 

LBSC's book was originally written during the War for the Model Engineer. Normal contributions had tailed off so the editor asked LBSC to produce some general interest articles to keep spirits up. It is very good and reads superbly well, but you have to be a little careful with it because he gives the impression of driving and firing locos, when he was actually a passed cleaner.

I have read Yesterday Once More and so many that they have blurred into one! I would recommend Set Up Running as the one that stands out most.

 

Just add a few to the mix, and as the op mentions, footplate experiences.

My most re-read have to be Terry Essery ;" Firing days at Saltley" and the partner volume "More firing days at Saltley". bradford Barton softbacks, but may have been reprinted more recently.
-For Southern fans: "Thirty Years at Bricklayers Arms" by Michael Jackman. David & Charles 1976.
Southern again: Stan Symes: "55 Years on the Footplate" Oakwood Press. 1939, through to end of Southern steam, and training to drive diesels and EMU's.
...and again: Colonel Rogers in "Steam from Waterloo" quotes numerous times from steam loco crew recollections.
-Crewe? try Johnson: "Through the links at Crewe" vols 1 and 2. Bradford Barton.
- Scotland? Try: Hilton:" The Plug Dropper." Trade Press Publications.
-Midland line? Bushell: "LMS Locos from the footplate" and "LMS Locoman-Willesden footplate memories" Bradford Barton.
-Tyseley GWR? Jacks: "Drawn by Steam" Bradford Barton.
-Barry area South Wales: Brock: "Small coal and smoke rings" covers 1942 to 1953.
-Gardner: "Castles to Warships" is abook from a man who clearly had great pride in the job.
-Severn Valley/Kidderminster? Tony Barfield: "When there was Steam" and "Panniers and Prairies".
-South Yorkshire ER freight: Potts: Bankers and Pilots".
-GWR Didcot? Gasson: "Firing Days" and Footplate Days"
-From a different aspect, ie motive power department, try RHN Hardy: "Steam in the Blood" , mainly Eastern, some Southern. You might have to do with a paperback, (Ian Allen 1971 or 1975), the hardback is difficult to obtain.
-Peter Semmens: "Bill Hoole Engineman Extraordinary" (Ian Allen) makes good reading. LNER/ER of course.

A word of warning: Amazon etc are good sources, but do buy the best condition you can if you are buying a 30/40 plus year old softbacks, ie the Bradford Barton ones, even better try second hand stalls at your favourite railway, and actually see what you are getting.

O S Nock has published many books detailing footplate runs, although he was there as an "observer", not crew. I still treasure my copy of "Four Thousand Miles on the Footplate" by Nock, bought for me from a WH Smith bookstall on Doncaster station in 1953, when I was seven years old.

If I think of others I will post again.

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Some excellent books suggested so far, particularly "Enginemen Elite", "Engineman Extraordinaire", "Steam in the Blood" and in particular Terry Essery's "Saltley Firing Days" and "Steam Locomotives Compared"; apart from Bill Hoole's biography, all of the aforementioned are footplate reminiscences by engine crew and not third party onlookers, so to speak.

One that you could add to the list is "Bert Hooker; Legendary Railwayman", which includes the story of his epic work on a Bullied Light Pacific during the Locomotive Exchanges.

Another book that has plenty of footplate action in between locomotive engineering theory and development is David Wardale's epic, "The Red Devil"; this has just been reprinted, do not pass up the opportunity to acquire a copy of this wonderful book.

I hope that you enjoy your reading.

Cheers

Alan

 

For information/clarification, the "Saltley Firing Days" from Silver Link Publishing I mentioned in my post above (#13) is a modern reprint of these two volumes combined into the one book.

Another likely place to find new or second-hand copies of books are model railway exhibitions - many of these have one or more book-dealers, or books on sale on association stands, such as the LCGB.

 

From the less technical end of the bookshelves.

Behind the Lines by Christopher Burton is suffixed "The lighter side of Railway Life" and is actually a very accurate view of the railways in the days of wagon load freight and collection and delivered parcel traffic. It was first published in 1979 by Barbyn Press and has been out of print for many years.

Some of the stories have been recycled in "GWR Signal Box Cats" by F.E.Line published by Noodle Books. Only to be read if you don't take the railway too seriously. ( So that may exclude a few on this forum.) I've got new members of staff to read it, just as a background why the older staff have such a warped sense of humour for the current digital world.

Signal Box Coming Up, Sir edited by Geoff Body and Bill Parker is a book of stories railway life viewed mainly by managers. Never the less, a good read when stuck on a voyager for a few hours.

On and off the Rails by Peter Rayner should be compulsory reading for any new (or not so new) manager anywhere in the railway/preservation industry. Some topics are not quite suitable for discussion on an open forum, but it's a fascinating read. ( No pressure to write that - even if I did work for Peter Rayner and knew many of the people referred to on the "Southern". No - I'm not mentioned.) If you wondered how the privatised railway came out the way it did, this book will explain some of the reasons - much to the discomfort of the politicians of the day. It does make me wonder how some of the current managers with degrees would have coped in BR days....

Light Relief by Jack Warland is mainly about his early career in South Western signalboxes. Again a few of the topics are more suitable for the mess room on night shift than a public forum. It also includes a couple of ghost stories about Grateley. A brilliant read from a great character who I knew in the early days of TOPS in the mid 1970's

I agree with an earlier poster about Red Devil and Other Tales of Steam. A brilliant book which had me digging out all my old engineering text books. After 30+ years some of the opaque higher calculus made sense. Read this book and then wonder about some of the schemes to recreate a long scrapped class of loco.

Following on from that, "La Locomotive a Vapeur" by Andre Chapelon reprinted and translated by Camden Press opens up subject of locomotive design. With the updates included on recent progress, it's an interesting read. Not to be carried around in a shoulder bag and I hope you have a strong coffee table - it's a hefty tome.

Cheers, Neil

 

Engineman Elite (ian allan 1958) by Norman Mckillop (driver of LNER A3 SPEARMINT) is an excellent read though sadly out of print,
cheers,
julian

 

As the poster above mentions, "Enginemen Elite" is difficult to obtain. Online there appears to be one copy in Canada, at considerable cost.

Referring to the Stephen Austin "from the footplate" series, Ian Allen softcovers, whilst these appear to be written from contemporary sources rather than from actual footplate journeys, they are very well done, and do give you an impression of having "made the trip" with the footplate crew.

As far as I can see this series inclues the following: Elizabethan, Devonian, Cambrian Coast Express, Cornish Riviera Express, Atlantic Coast Express.

A trip to Hay on Wye this afternoon and I found some more "footplate" books in the Bradford Barton softcover range, three Southern, one Eastern.
-Holland: "Southern Locomen". postwar period.
-Bonnett: "Smoke and Steam". 1920's GN and LNER.
-Norman: "Footplate Days on the Southern". 1948 onward, South London, Stewarts Lane etc.
- Aynsley: "Nothing like Steam". 1952-1967 Southern.

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