Until his death in 2018 at the age of 94, Richard Hardy was one of the last remaining professional links with the 'Big Four' and a railwayman who commanded as much respect in the preservation era as he did during his illustrious career with LNER and British Railways.
Richard joined the LNER in January 1941 as an apprentice and worked his way from there to Divisional Manager level in British Railways 40 years later. He made a rapid rise through the railway industry's hierarchy, becoming a shedmaster at the young age of 22 and running five major depots before he was 35. He was then responsible for overseeing the changeover from steam to modern traction on the busy Stratford district of the Eastern Region.
He was also a rail enthusiast at heart and never lost his passion for locomotives and their crews. After his retirement in 1982, he made a major contribution to the continuance of steam on the main line. This book is a reissue of two of his autobiographical volumes outlining aspects of his career, Steam in the Blood and Railways in the Blood, which have been out of print for many years.
Illustrated with a section of 32 pages of black & white photographs. 400 pages.