A Train Driver's Memoir
British Rail
Category=DNC
Category=WGF
Diaries
East Anglia
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Journeys around East Anglia
Life on the footplate
Rail freight distribution
Rail travel in the 1980s
Rail travel in the 1990s
Railway
Railwaymen
Train
Trains in Ipswich
Working for British Rail
Product details
- ISBN 9781738421602
- Dimensions: 170 x 244mm
- Publication Date: 20 Apr 2026
- Publisher: Softwood Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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There are railwaymen... and there are those that work on the railway! Drawn from a collection of diaries and memories, this is the story of a schoolboy who turned his deep fascination with the railway into more than 34 years of train driving. Both witty and self-deprecating, the author takes us on journeys around East Anglia from his British Rail depot in Ipswich, where both Intercity and freight work are recalled. He then tells of the enormous changes privatisation brought, which saw him regularly working trains to Birmingham, Crewe, Doncaster, Leeds and Teesside. He chases Tornado, suffers locomotive fires and recalls stories of runaway trains and rhubarb!
From local freight to InterCity trains and from muddy fields to four-star hotels, Tim Mallion built a rich and varied career on the railway. During his time on the footplate, he learned to operate 11 types of main-line locomotive, as well as the Class 08 pilot locomotive and both the Cravens Class 105 and Metro Cammell Class 101 DMUs. Based at Ipswich, Tim drove trains across an extensive network, from Lowestoft and London to Cambridge, Crewe, Leeds, Birmingham and Teesside. Having witnessed enormous changes over nearly four decades on the rails, he was encouraged by others to share the stories and experiences that shaped his journey.
