Life in a Railway Factory
Transport & Engineering Biography & Memoir History
Life in a Railway Factory is Alfred Williams' vivid memoir of grinding labour in the Great Western Railway works at Swindon before the First World War, a classic of British industrial history and transportation literature. Told with quiet humour and sharp observation, this illustrated paperback captures the heat, noise and camaraderie of a vanished world where 10,000 men built the locomotives that powered Britain.
This 1992 History Press edition remains the most readable account of Edwardian engineering life, praised by social historians and railway enthusiasts alike for its unvarnished, true-story detail. Williams, a self-taught poet known as "the Hammersmith Bard," turns his experience as a boiler riveter into a moving biography of craftsmanship under pressure.
The 320-page book shows cosmetic wear only: the cover carries light scuffs and the page block has the speckled foxing typical of older paperbacks, yet the interior pages are crisp, unmarked and fully readable. Weighing 826 g and measuring 25 cm, it sits comfortably on a shelf or a classroom desk.
An affordable, well-preserved copy for collectors of railwayana, engineering memoirs or working-class history, ready to inform young adults and seasoned readers without the distraction of inscriptions or library marks.
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