SIGNALMAN'S MORNING

The first of a trilogy, tracing a love affair with coal-fired railway from love at first sight in 1945 to divorce in 1975. Adrian Vaughan, born in Reading in January 1941, fell in love with the spectacle of steam railway. It was the Greatest Free Show on Earth. It had drama and peace and relaxation. It was musical and it had poetry - to those able to appreciate it. It was educational, raising many questions in the mind of a boy. There was no feeling of oppression on the railway. Adrian was allowed to ride the engines and enter the signal boxes. He asked the railwaymen questions and they kindly gave him answers. Coached in engine driving and signal box work through the 1940s and 1950s he was the first volunteer railwayman at the age of twelve, unloading parcels and helping in the shunting yard. By the time he went to work for British Railways as a porter, he was well versed in the work and in the spirit of the railwaymen and their commitment to what they called 'The Service'.

These are his memories, carefully remembered until, in 1978, he wrote them down, on a 1942 vintage 'Imperial' typewriter, in a way that would do justice to that wonderful epoch.

Originally published between 1981 and 1987, the trilogy is regarded as a classic of railway writing and the books remain in demand to this day.