Crewe Locomotive Works and its Men by Brian Reed

Last Updated on April 23, 2026

Acknowledgments

Of the many friends who over many years have helped the gradual formation of this book come first and foremost the three dedicatees, and after them the late Roland C. Bond and Dennis Dooley. Bond probably knew more about Crewe Works in its entirety than any other man, for additional to his two periods there as assistant superintendent and works superintendent he had the Works as one of his charges from 1946 until his retirement in 1968, as outlined in the Appendix, and until his death in December 1980 he kept himself informed of every. thing new at Crewe. Dooley, today the superintendent of ancillary shops at the Works, is a fourth-generation Crewe railwayman, and one whose great technical competence is supplemented by a well-developed historical sense. Apart from war service, he has been at the works continuously since 1934. The generosity and friendship of all five have provided much of any vitality this book may have.

John Edgington over two decades has been mentor on all matters to do with LNWR and LMSR locomotives; he, along with Philip Atkins, both at the National Railway Museum, have contributed much, and with a happy community of interest. In divers ways over the last dozen years unstinted help has come from the late Sir Reginald Terrell,

J. W. Burrell, Brian Radford, Ernest Dutton, J. P. Richards, Harold

D. Bowtell, Dudley Whitworth, George Barlow, the late G. H. Platt, Dennis Ollier, J.J. C. Barker-Wyatt, Clive Taylor, the present Crewe works manager Frank de Nobriga, and the chief technical officer of the borough of Crewe & Nantwich, G. A. Barnard, and his assistant

K. I. Abram.

who between them over many years greatly warmed and enriched the author’s life

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE

While this book was being set into type came the sad news of the death of the author. Brian Reed had spent many years researching archive material and many record sources. This book will stand not only as a tribute to the author, but also to one of the great railway works and the town it serves. 

This book was previously for sale at Margot’s Books. The shop is now closed — this post is kept as an archive record only.