Can't You Find a Better Job Than This? The Trials and Tribulations of a Railway Booking-Clerk

While there have been many ‘Railway-Mens’ memoirs published over the years, most of them have been written by loco-drivers. Interesting as these memoirs are, I feel that the poor old booking-clerk has been much ignored.

However, in 2021 I read a book (which shall have to remain nameless) which purported to be the career memoirs of a booking-clerk. However the clerk in question only worked on the railway for three years, and during that time nothing bad happened to him, thus leading non-booking-clerks to think that the profession was a cake-walk! This prompted me to write my own memoirs (to put the record straight).

I wrote the manuscript for this book during 2022, and by that date many Booking-Offices have been closed and replaced by self-service ticket-machines. Much of the rest of the railway network has become un-staffed, and in some quarters they are even talking about Driver-less trains! So, with all of the booking-office closures it looks like the post (profession?) of railway booking-clerk will soon disappear.

Looking back on my career, although it was certainly no cake-walk and there were many bad moments, it was a very interesting journey, I met some very nice people, and some downright evil people. Whilst in many places I was always somewhat of an un-welcome Pariah, in reality I was more sinned against than sinner!