How to Drive a Diesel Locomotive

Many books have been written on diesel traction, but not since the 1960s has there been an in-depth account of how diesel locomotives and DMUs actually function and what is involved in driving them.

The Manual for Diesel Locomotive & DMU Drivers addresses these and many other pertinent topics, including the knowledge required to drive trains safely and effectively, and the attributes that make a good driver.

This comprehensive and insightful manual also considers railway rules, route knowledge, preparing locomotives & DMUs, driving trains “on the road” and the serious matters of traction failures, assisting failed trains and the many incidents that can occur along the way.

It provides a fascinating insight into the life of a train driver and will appeal to those who drive trains, aspire to do so, as well as the general rail enthusiast.

The author, John Leach, is a fifth-generation railwayman who began his footplate career with British Rail in 1970 and is now a diesel driver and traction inspector at the West Somerset Railway.

The Manual for Diesel Locomotive & DMU Drivers will serve as an essential reference work on the role and duties of heritage railway diesel drivers and secondmen, but contains little that should not be easily comprehensible to anyone who has an interest in diesel traction and footplate matters.

Hardback. 240 pages.