Train driver's manual

You want to be a steam engine driver? It's not that simple - it's not just a matter of blowing the whistle, releasing the brakes and opening the regulator.

Where is the whistle? Which handle operates the brakes and what is a regulator? And do you really want to be in a locomotive cab where your front will bake and your rear will freeze?

Over the years, accidents have occurred on the railways and to prevent a reoccurrence, rules have been made.

Do you know them? How are trains kept apart so that you don't strike the one in front, or are hit by the one in the rear?

What's to stop trains on a single line colliding head-on?

Colin Maggs has assembled a really fascinating collection of illustrated railwaymen's handbooks, which were required reading for a footplate man.

They answer all these questions and more.