Geoff Body

Running a railway is a complex business. However organised it is, there will always be surprises: often hilarious, frequently unexpected, but sometimes serious.Along Different Lines includes such bizarre ‘everyday’ events as coping with hurricanes, rogue locomotives and runaway wagons; PR successes and otherwise; the Brighton Belle, Flying Scotsman and Mallard; training-course capers; a wino invasion; trackside antics; the Eurostar backdrop; the birth of a prison; and royal and other special occasions.Expert authors Geoff Body and Bill Parker lovingly compiled this entertaining collection in which railway professionals recall notable incidents from across their careers. This illustrated compilation provides an enjoyable look back at life on the railways.

When Jim Body joined Great Northern Railway in 1916, he could never have imagined that it would become ‘the family business’, with both his son Geoff and his grandson Ian taking to the rails. Through the eyes of three generations of Bodys, the rail industry changed beyond recognition, going through two world wars, grouping, nationalisation, the end of steam and privatisation before ending up as the industry we know today. With tales that include being suspected of spying, dealing with dramatic flooding, and the first Glastonbury Festival, Three Generations of Railwaymen is a rare behind-the-scenes look at one family’s life and experiences in the railway industry.

Running a railway is a complex business beset with drama. The operation of heavy equipment at speed, twenty-four hours a day, across the full length of the country and using extremely technical signaling, track and mechanical engineering is no mean feat and throws up a constant stream of challenges. Fortunately, the highly professional railway staff are ready to deal with these daily obstacles using their expertise, dedication and, as is so often required, a sense of humour. Here Geoff Body and his son Ian have collated a selection of entertaining and revealing anecdotes that illustrate just how unexpected working on the railways can be.

The formative years of Britain’s railway network produced a host of ideas, activities and characters, quite a few of which now seem not only highly unusual, but sometimes little short of ridiculous. Weird schemes and designs, extravagant behaviour, reckless competition and larger-than-life characters all featured in the genuine struggle of the railway system to evolve. While the dawning of regulation and common sense brought about more uniform and responsible practices, factors like the weather and the innate complexity of railway operation continued to produce a stream of nonstandard incidents and outcomes, from wild storms to unusual equipment. This book, by ex-railwaymen Geoff and Ian Body, captures over 150 entertaining snippets, stories, and strange and unusual facts from an ample supply of railway curiosities.

For centuries, Somerset depended on its harbours and rivers as its lifeblood. This is the story of the county’s ports, pills and waterways – the unique vessels and the skilled men that used them, the cargoes they carried and the day-to-day practicalities of their lives. Over 2,000 years of history is explored in this illustrated volume, from the earliest waterborne activity right up to the present day and the enduring preservation, restoration and new-build legacy. Encompassing the whole of the Somerset coast, with detailed explorations of the ports, the vessels and their owners, skippers and crews, and the evolution of the inland distribution process, Any Muddy Bottom presents a comprehensive and vivid portrait of the county’s remarkable shipping heritage.

Running a railway is a complex business, constantly throwing up drama, misadventure and the unexpected. Geoff Body and Bill Parker have collated a rich selection of railwaymen’s memories and anecdotes to create an enjoyable book of escapades and mishaps, illustrating the daily obstacles faced on the railways, from handling the new Eurostar to train catering, nights on the Tay Bridge to rail ‘traffic cops’, and from mystery derailments to track subsidence. However interesting the infrastructure of the large and varied railway business may be, the real heart of this great industry lies in its people, the complex jobs they occupy and the dedicated way in which they carry them out.

This book draws on the long and unique heritage of the county of Somerset, bringing to life seventy of the little known but fascinating and unusual aspects of a much-loved area. It tells of body-snatchers and bewitchment; crime and conflict; lepers and lighthouses; songs and words; heroes and villains – this is book is of and for the curious. Its accounts of larger-than-life episodes from Somerset activity, locations and people take the reader on a near-unbelievable exploration of local human behaviour and idiosyncrasy. Richly illustrated, this book is great for dipping into, but can equally be enjoyed from cover to cover.

There’s never a dull moment in this entertaining collection of experiences as Geoff Body and Bill Parker present often hilarious highlights from the careers of railwaymen around Britain over the last fifty years. Featuring daring robberies, royal visits, lost passengers, bomb scares, coffins, circus trains and ladies of the night, it chronicles both successes and disasters, with accounts of moving a farm and a circus, 245 miles of marooned railway, footplate adventures, animal capers and many equally fascinating subjects. Geoff Body and Bill Parker both enjoyed long careers on the railways and they have brought together this assortment of memories from all parts of the country. Signal Box Coming Up, Sir! is an entertaining and instructive journey for anyone with an interest in life on the railways.

Over the years railways have seen a diverse mix of traffic and many unusual events have occurred. There have been special services for Glastonbury festival goers, consignments as varied as boilers and bees, rural branches like the 'Crab & Winkle' and the 'Strawberry Line', trains to carry corpses, circus trains, a railway with a lifeboat, zig-zag routes, and unusual commercial enterprises such as excursions to watch prize fighters, typing services on city-to-city expresses and cinema coaches. This lovingly compiled collection of titbits captures the fascination and variety of railways with over 250 accounts garnered from the press, friends and colleagues and from the author's own experience of dramatic, intriguing and sometimes hilarious events, creating an immensely readable collection of information and stories from 150 years of railway activity.