Life On the Railway by John Owen soon to be presented for sale on the outstanding BookLovers of Bath web site!
Published: Bath: Millstream Books, 1989, Hardback in dust wrapper.
Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Diagrams; Tables; Plans;
From the cover: Too many railway histories concentrate on locomotives, with perhaps an occasional brief mention of the engine drivers or firemen. Too often the men and women who worked behind the scenes are forgotten the fitters, the tube blowers, the shunters, the booking clerks, the refreshment room staff, without whom the railways could not have functioned. This book, while not neglecting the locomotive scene, sets out principally to describe how one small part of Britains railway network operated, and what life was like for all the employees on the railway.
Bath Green Park station and motive power depot provide the basis for the story though this is not just another Somerset & Dorset book. The S&D plays its part but in partnership with the Midland Railways Mangotsfield and Bath Branch, a relatively little known but equally hardworking component of the railway scene in Bath.
In this essentially human tale, we meet 14 year old call boys whose duties included knocking up train crews in the small hours of the morning, and foreman Tom Rudd, famous for drinking his tea straight from the pot. We hear of train workings known as The Fish and Chip Special, The Ghost Train and The Rabbits, and of goose plucking in Weston signal box. Here is the story of the ordinary working people of the railways, the story of a way of life which has all but disappeared.
Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Dust wrapper a little sunned. Leans very slightly. Text complete, clean and tight.
Orange boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 199 pages. 11″ x 8¾”.
Of course, if you don’t like this one, may I beguile you with my offerings from hither or maybe further, hand picked, books in my Transport Rail catalogue?
BookLovers of Bath 