Along Different Lines

70 Real Life Railway Stories

Geoff Body, Bill Parker

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2013
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• eBook ISBN:
  9780752490908
• Subtopic: Rail Transportation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Running a railway is a complex business. However well-run it is there will always be surprises, often hilarious, frequently unexpected, sometimes serious. Here railway professionals recall notable incidents from across their careers on the railways, lovingly compiled by expert railwaymen and authors Geoff Body and Bill Parker. The incidents covered in this illustrated book include such bizarre "everyday" events as coping with hurricanes, rogue locomotives, and runaway wagons; PR successes and otherwise; the Brighton Belle, Flying Scotsman, and Mallard; training course capers; a wino invasion; trackside antics; the Eurostar backdrop; the birth of a prison; and royal and other special occasions. This is an enjoyable look back at life on the railways.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Introduction & Acknowledgements
• Beginnings (Geoff Body)
• A Great Crash & a Cloud of Coal Dust (Hugh Gould)
• LMS Apprentice (Alan Sourbut)
• The 1987 Hurricane – A Personal Experience (Theo Steel)
• Slips, Slides & Washouts (Jim Dorward)
• Kettering (Dennis Simmonds)
• Renaissance 4472 (Bryan Stone)
• First Course (Geoff Body)
• The Battle of Broughty Ferry (Harry Knox)
• A Shuttle Cock-Up (Cedric Spiller)
• Tales of a Young Controller (Nick 4Wood)
• Wormit & Lochee (Jim Dorward)
• Music: Orchestra & Chorus (Bill Parker)
• Music: Opera (Geoff Body)
• Music: Top of the Pops (Cedric Spiller)
• Newsworthy (Mike Lamport)
• European Night(mare) Services (Theo Steel)
• To Pull or Not to Pull (Jim Dorward)
• A Near Thing (David Crathorn)
• Survey Surprises (Peter Spedding)
• ‘Something of a Luxury’ (Dennis Simmonds)
• We Couldn’t Keep Up (Bryan Stone)
• The Down Postal (Peter Spedding)
• Joint Line Adventures (Bryan Stone)
• The Chief Clerk (Bill Robinson)
• Are You Sure It Will Work? (Jim Dorward)
• Ferry Admiral (Bryan Stone)
• Show Time (Bill Parker)
• The Diesels Have Arrived (Jim Dorward)
• At a Higher Station (Cedric Spiller)
• Stop & Think (Geoff Body)
• Unforgettable Meal (Basil Tellwright)
• Motorcycle Stationmaster (Alex Bryce)
• Now There’s a Funny Thing (Jim Gibbons)
• Out of the Ordinary (Jim Gibbons)
• Prison Yard (Bill Parker)
• Merthyr Tydfil (Hugh Gould)
• Peter Pan (David Maidment)
• Sitting on the Fence (Alex Bryce)
• Whoops! (Tom Greaves)
• The Swishing Fishes (Graham Paterson)
• Queen of Scots China (Hugh Gould)
• Biter Bit (Alex Bryce)
• Coal Train Runaway (Philip Benham)
• On Call (Don Love)
• The Cloth (Bill Parker)
• Steam Pressures (Tom Greaves)
• The Whirling Dervishes (Les Binns)
• The Woking Ladies’ Finishing School (Geoff Body)
• A Shade Too Far (Hugh Gould)
• The North Briton (David Ward)
• Caught Out (Geoff Body)
• The Depot Cats Rule – OK? (Colin Driver)
• A Royal Lift (Philip Benham)
• Manchester ‘Miss’-hap (David Ward)
• The Slowest Train? (David Maidment)
• I’ll Be Alright (Hugh Gould)
• The Return of Mallard (Philip Benham)
• Expresso Supper (Graham Paterson)
• Special Workings (Philip Benham)
• Interviews (David Jagoe)
• On the LT&S (Basil Tellwright)
• Show Me the Way to Go Home (Alex Bryce)
• Lured by a Bird (Philip Benham)
• None Shall Sleep (David Crathorn)
• Ne Worry Pas (Jim Gibbons)
• Beaujolais Nouveau (Jim Gibbons)
• Crushing Experience (Geoff Body)
• Belle Finale (Frank Paterson)
• Saloons & Me (Sir William McAlpine)
• Glossary
• Copyright