BRITISH RAILWAYS STINKS!
Many people would not realise that the chemist played a significant role in keeping steam, diesel and electric trains moving in the days of British Railways.
When I (Dave Smith) joined British Railways laboratories in the early 1960s as a chemist, an aunt asked: “What do you do, prescribe aspirin to drivers with headaches?” Nothing could be further from the truth but maybe some of the reality is even less credible at first sight.
The new book published by Mortons, entitled British Railway Stinks, covers the period from the 1950s to 1996 when BR disappeared, but provides a little of the early history when a chemist was first appointed to a railway company and a laboratory set up in Crewe in 1864.
My colleagues and I have compiled an account of our activities which are not in the public domain. It is a light-hearted, accurate look at the work of the last generation of railway chemists told in their own words. Our involvement with the wrong type of snow, leaves and fuel, torching coaches, helping police with their enquiries, keeping the High
