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 railway men 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 railway man 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 railway men 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.

Adrian Vaughan was born in Reading in January 1941 and grew up closely in touch with the GWR and its nationalised successor. He was a volunteer porter at Challow station from 1953 to 1956, during which time he learned how to drive a steam engine and work a signal box. In 1960, after 4? years in the army, he joined the staff of Challow and became a signalman at Uffington a few months later. He was a signalman for fourteen years and an amateur footplateman for six. He produced his first book on his beloved railway in 1971 and has produced over thirty books to date.