A Railwayman's War
This is the true story of the part of my father’s life when he was working for the L.M.S. railway company, stationed in loco 14c, St.Albans, Hertfordshire, the small city he lived in and had grown up in.
The story covers a time between 1940 and 1953, and is titled ‘A Railwayman’s War’ for many good reasons. I have come to realise that my father’s general dislike of signalmen does not set him apart from most footplate workers. Indeed, there was a saying, common among workers of my father’s time, which is still in use today. The saying? ‘There are only two types of swine on the railway, pigs and signalmen.’
My father disagreed with my title for this book, which was ‘Days of Pigs and Signalmen.’
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A few years after the end of this story, my sister Janet was born. Without her advice and guidance, this book would never have been written.