"In this latest volume in the 'Railway Heritage' series, Adrian takes an affectionate and unashamedly nostalgic look back at the fast disappearing world of mechanical signalling, where the signalman in his waistcoat and rolled-up sleeves was master of all he surveyed, and was able to watch 'the greatest free show on earth' - the pageant of steam railway. The steady ticking of the clock, the high polish on brasswork, levers and lino, the tinging of the bells, the thump of the levers, the high drama of the thundering express train and yet the homeliness of the battered armchair and the ever-simmering kettle: this was the world which Adrian Vaughan discovered as a small boy, which eventually became his everyday occupation, and the passion for which has never left him. Thanks to the many enthusiasts entertained not only by Adrian in his various signal boxes, but also by other like-minded railwaymen up and down the country, many aspects of this unique world have been recorded for posterity, and have here been distilled into a railway book of sheer delight.