This is a book about trains and the railways with a difference…one which is told with honesty and humour and we get to meet some great Norfolk characters.
While there are many publications on the shelves about the days of steam engines and stations north, south, east and west, ones written by the people who actually worked on the trains are few and far between.
We have much to thank David Tyson for. A man who followed in his father’s footsteps and became a Norfolk train driver in a career spanning more than 40 years and President of The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF).
What he has proved now is that he has a wonderful way with words and a fine sense of humour. This is a raw look at life on and off the footplate and that is what makes it both entertaining and informative.
It’s called Alright Spider! Why was he called Spider? He has no idea.
As he says: “Over the years, numerous books have been written about the rail industry.
Charting the time the first locomotives puffed into life right up to the modern era that led to locomotive or ‘footplate-men’ being the envy of many a young lad.”
David writes about his career from his first day in June 1980 and introduces us to some great, larger-than-life workmates and doesn’t hide behind fancy words. That’s what makes this book such a good read.
He grew up very quickly and we follow his extensive training, driving incidents, accidents and hazards that came with the job, Not forgetting near misses and fatalities.
As a local union representative he progressed to be president of the train driver’s union, The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF).
The foreword is written by Mick Whelan, General Secretary of ASLEF, who says the book transports readers into a world of characters, living history and honesty.
“In this book Dave Tyson brings the human aspect of our unique sector to the fore in a way that anyone can identify with and understand.
“I may be biased as his friend but can attest that this is his life and how he lived it, openly, honestly with great humour as a true railway man and great trade-unionist,” he says.
So just who is Spider?
He writes about his early years at Clenchwarton, messing around in the streets and fields with the children in the village.
His dad, Peter, worked on the footplate as a “passed fireman” at King’s Lynn depot. He would fire the locomotives and could also be a driver.
When he was four his father successfully applied for a driving job in Norwich and they moved to Sprowston.
He was proud of the fact his dad was a train driver and loved to spread the news to all his mates.
After school he delivered the Evening News and cleaned boats to make some money and then went to a job’s fair in the city and came across a British Rail stand.
And that’s how it started. A lifetime on the trains and on his first day his dad said: “Now then David, you’ll find that there is a lot of bad language on the railway.”
He was used to that…at school and, if truth be known, he was no angel.
And then we join Spider on a fascinating, funny, happy, sad and always interesting life on the footplate of trains across East Anglia and further afield over many years.
It is quite a journey and this book is your ticket to ride. Buy it and you will also be helping The Railway Children charity which supports vulnerable children alone and at risk on the streets and at transport hubs.
David has been married to Yvonne since 1990 and describes her as his rock.
He thanks all his colleagues for their tales and those in the urology and oncology departments at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital who have looked after him through his battle with cancer since 2016 and continue to do so.
“If it were not for them, then I would probably not have lived to tell my story,” he said.
It is a story worth sharing.
*Alright Spider! A Train Drivers Memoir, published by Essex Transport Publishing, costs £12.95 and can be bought at City Bookshop, Norwich, Holt Bookshop and at the North Norfolk Railway at Sheringham. More information at https://alrightspider.online or if you use a mobile click on www.alrightspider.online and you can also email alrightspidermemoir@gmail.com
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