The Great Western’s Last Year: Efficiency in Adversity, by former Reading man Adrian Vaughan, celebrates the staff who kept the Great Western Railway (GWR), dubbed ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’, running in its most difficult year after the Second World War.

The London-based railway company, which ran the Reading to Paddington service and set up Reading Signal Works, hit tough times in 1947, coping with rationing, a cold winter, floods, broken rails and failing locomotives.

Adrian, 73, said: “I wanted to show how the GWR managed its affairs and did its best to provide a service in spite of everything against it.

“The engines needed repair, the carriages and wagons too. The railway couldn’t have the steel it needed because the motor industry was first priority.”

Adrian, who was born in Reading but now lives in Norfolk, spent more than two years searching through previously unpublished photographs, internal reports, minutes and old staff magazines to explore the railway’s dedicated community.

He has written more than 30 books on the railway, spurred on from his work as a signalman at Uffington and Challow during the 1960s, and this book focuses on Reading as a key area in the railway’s history.

He said: “The GWR provided work for several hundred men and women over various stations. There was also the large factory entered from Caversham Road, the signal box and the repair works, where all the railway’s clocks and watches were repaired.”

The book reveals lesser-known details of everyday life working for the railway company, from struggles to celebrations at the annual festival of music and drama, which was held over six days at Reading Town Hall and opened by the Mayor, Phoebe Cusden.

Adrian added: “The GWR was a great community with loads of music, athletics, drama groups.”

The book costs £16.99 from www.thehistorypress.co.uk or by calling 01453 883300.