Come meet the railway characters of old, the "originals, mavericks, eccentrics, defectives, or plain straightforward barmpots" introduced to us by the author who for many years worked as a British Rail Civil Engineer based in Yorkshire. The book is bursting with hilarious anecdotes, tales of mishaps and unforeseen incidents laced with the dour humour of the locals in their broad Yorkshire brogue. Take the time when the railwaymen unblock a sewer in the station yard and flood Huddersfield town centre with a rush of effluent! There is plenty of interest for the pure rail enthusiast too. Explore the real darkness of a railway tunnel when a steam train goes by with its thumping pistons and unstoppable wheels only a yard from your face. Now the days of steam have disappeared together with the old railway buildings and the old way of working, are there any "characters" left? 'Appen not. Mike Collins is a retired Civil Engineer working all his time in Yorkshire. He has been a keen observer of the characters he has met and their humour. Within these pages are memories of his early working years, in the 1960s.