Frank tracks history of the old Chase Line

Frank Allen was born in the Railway House in Bloxwich where he lived with his family in his formative years.

Now, three quarters of a century later, the Great Wyrley resident has produced The Cannock Line – Fourteen Miles of History.

Mr Allen, aged 75, followed in the family tradition of working on the Chase Line until the old signal boxes were scrapped, but never lost his passion for the railway.

He said: "My dad Steve was a ganger at Bloxwich and my uncle Jack was a ganger at Pelsall, while my brother, also Steve, became a signalman.

"We had a signal box in the garden at home and by the time I left school at 14, I could work it.

"With my family background, I was always going to end up working on the railways. I was surrounded by it from birth. It is in my blood.

"From an early age, I was fascinated by the signal box and loved being around trains and the railway. It followed that as soon as I left school, i would go to work on the Chase Line."

Mr Allen, a former Richard C Thomas School – known locally as Field Road School – pupil, spent his childhood holidays around the railway.

The Monday after leaving school he started work as a train recorder, taking slips off the guards to say whether the trains were on time or late.

He progressed to junior porter, mainly at Cannock, then a shunter at the Marshland yard in Walsall.

His career was interrupted by two years of military service, during which he followed his father and brother into the Royal Engineers, where he saw no action but drove a steam train on the long-bore military railway.

Returning as a signalman at Wyrley and the a more handsomely paid relief signalman along the line, his association with it ended when he was aged 26 as computerisation came in.

The Norton Lane resident said: "It all changed when Dr Beeching took over. I was in Walsall number one box at the time.

"I realised it would no longer be my kind of railway so I left but my love of the railway never died."

Despite nearly 50 years intervening, Mr Allen was persuaded to produce the book after a conversation with the manager at Chasewater Railway Museum & Heritage Centre. He said: "I drew a plan on his desk from memory. That was three years go and since then, I produced the whole book from memory.

"Nothing has been researched but my recollections are razor sharp. I also put in some old photos and it is going on sale at Chasewater.

"The main plan I did of the line, which is about 5ft by 3ft is also going on display at the Museum of Cannock Chase later this year, so people will be able to get hold of it there."

The book, which is edited by Mr Allen's son Ian, includes a drawing of the Railway House and the signal box which began his love affair with the railway.

Meanwhile many of the photographs include Mr Allen and family members at work.

* The Cannock Line – Fourteen Miles of History is available from the Chasewater Railway Museum and Heritage Centre priced at £4.99.