This is a welcome reissue of the biography of one of the relatively few railwaymen in the age of steam who became what would now be described as a ‘personality’. Bill Hoole was born in Liverpool and his first job was as a messenger in the Goods Department of the Midland Railway in the city. The fascination of steam locomotives soon cast its spell over him and he transferred to the Great Central at Walton-on-the-Hill-sheds. After service in the Great War he moved to London, passing out as a driver at Neasden in 1926 before moving to Kings Cross the following year.
He finished his career as a top link driver on the East Coast Main Line based at Kings Cross. Driver Hoole’s normal locomotive in British Railways days was the now preserved A4 Pacific No 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, and it was with ‘Number 7’ that he achieved the official post war steam speed record of 112mph on 23 May 1959. His name became a household word among railway enthusiasts on the East Coast Route during the declining years of steam traction out of King’s Cross. In his quiet unassuming way he always had time to answer every question, pose for every camera and help everyone who needed help.
After his retirement from British Railways, Bill took to driving on the narrow-gauge Festiniog Railway in north Wales, where his cheerful personality made as much an impression on the visitors as it did on steam lovers during his main-line days. On his death in 1979, he was interred in the cemetery at Minffordd close to the Festiniog Railway, his gravestone bearing the title of his biography: Bill Hoole, Engineman Extraordinary.
