Testing Times at Derby: A Privileged View of Steam (Oakwood Reminiscence) - Softcover

Rimmer, Alan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0853616280 ISBN 13: 9780853616283

Publisher: The Oakwood Press, 2004

Synopsis

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About this title

Synopsis

The author begins by describing how, when he left school in 1943, he embarked on an Engineering Apprenticeship with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in its Derby locomotive works. This type of course had at an earlier time been called a 'Privileged Apprenticeship' and the term 'Priv' was still applied to the author and his colleagues - hence his 'Privileged' view of steam. He describes in some detail the pleasures and pains, and the trials and tribulations of his training, and the particular incident where he stood in for a colleague on one of the Locomotive Interchange Trials, which determined the direction that his career would take. Alan admits that his close acquaintance with steam locomotives led to the blossoming of an intense enthusiasm for steam, something that has never left him.

With his practical training behind him, office work within the works is the next stop, and then the incident referred to above led to a move to the Locomotive Testing Section in the drawing office, where his work included test runs with 'Black Fives', 'Britannias' and 'Austerities' viewed from the dynamometer car, so that close encounters with steam engines once again became the order of the day. This was a fascinating period with many aspects, enabling the author to indulge in a wide range of experiences, including the schoolboy dream of driving a railway engine. A move into the Research Department (of what was by now British Railways) for some time, led to a gradual diminution in the steam content of his working life; nevertheless, various projects still came his way which enabled him, in one way or another, to have hands-on contact with steam locomotives for half of his railway career. This title is presented in an A5 format. It consists of 120 pages with 88 illustrations and a laminated cover.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Oakwood Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0853616280
• ISBN 13: 9780853616283
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 120