Saltley Firing Days Volume 1

Terry Essery joined British Railways at the age of 16 in 1950 as a cleaner at Saltley motive power depot in Birmingham, and rose through the ranks to become a top link fireman by the time he left in 1959. His story is not a chronicle of record-breaking runs on prestigious named expresses, for there were none at Saltley. Instead it illustrates the less glamorous but nevertheless interesting and often exciting everyday work that constituted the bulk of activities on BR in steam days.

The first volume starts with an account of the working methods of railways as seen from the footplate, not only for the benefit of those less than familiar with such matters, but lest a record of such hard-won skills should be lost for ever. After a period as a cleaner, and a spell of National Service, he entered the ‘road links’, and as we progress to volume 2 we share his progress through passenger work to the top freight links. Saltley boasted the longest non-stop freight runs in the country, the Birmingham-Carlisles. It was every red-blooded fireman’s ambition to work these turns, since they represented the ultimate in skill and endurance, and it is on this pinnacle of achievement that the story closes.