THE AREA MANAGER’S DIARY
During the 1980s I was enjoying my railway career as area manager, Exeter; a plum posting, especially for a 32-year-old in those more traditional pre-sectorisation days. When I took the role, I was responsible for 960 staff.
MAS resignalling had to take place and the railway from Bridgwater/Castle Cary to Ivybridge, Castle Cary to Dorchester West, Sherborne to Exeter, as well as branch lines to Barnstaple, Paignton, Heathfield, Meldon and Exmouth had to be run safely and as efficiently as possible.
I chose to live next to the infamous Dawlish Sea Wall section, and during my tenure, kept a detailed diary, recording both successes and failures, concentrating on operations – but inevitably chronicling the effect processes such as sectorisation had on getting the job done.
The original notes are faithfully reproduced, with italicised passages if current comments are added in a book, ‘Devon. The books are available on Amazon (free P&P), with volume 1 costing £12.99 and volume 2 £13.99. A kindle version costs £4.99.
