Join author Richard Clarke as he takes a nostalgic look back at the railways and rock music of yesteryear. Rock ‘n’ Rail chronicles the changing scene of the rail industry from steam to privatisation – and the music industry from ballad through pop to rock.
Privately educated in a third—rate public school and rejecting the silver spoon of the family business, Richard instead chose a route through rock music and railways.
His career in rail began with stints working signal boxes from the mid—to—late 1960s, just in time to witness the end of main line steam, before a radical career shift in 1969 saw him managing the hippest rock bands in Soho, London. Three years later, he was back working as a signalman, spending the 1970s on boxes across the East Midlands and beyond. During the 1980s he was promoted into management at British Rail before it was all—change again with the advent of privatisation.
Never entirely sure which profession he preferred, Richard nonetheless took a lead role in both through the halcyon years of the 60s and 70s heavy rock period and the catastrophic privatisation years of Thatcher. This is his tale.