This is a book with a difference. One man’s story of time spent ‘on the inside’ at St Philip’s Marsh HST depot, Bristol from 1979 through to 2001. Stephen Jones was a trade electrician at SPM responsible with others for maintaining the fleet of Western Region HST sets through the good and sometimes not so good times.

Written from the heart by a man ‘who was there’, this is a no holds barred description of how the fleet was operated and maintained, how as time passed corners were cut and later under privatisation how it was a case of ‘reinventing the wheel’ seemingly more than once.

In addition we are able to witness the birth into service of the remarkable Yeoman Class 59 engines, with some remarkable tales and illustrations that are only possible again by a man on the inside.

Although very much a personal record profusely illustrated with the author’s own images, it is also a record of a lifetime of railway service.