Great Rail Tales

Rajinder Pryor – Women in Rail and Travels in India with Railway 200 Teddy

When Rajinder Pryor joined the rail industry 20 years ago, she came through the Women in Rail mentoring programme. Today Rajinder leads that programme, giving back to all the women that have followed her over the past two decades. To mark her 20th anniversary in the rail industry, Rajinder went on a very personal pilgrimage to her ancestral home in the Punjab, taking a Railway 200 teddy with her. Teddy became symbolic of the journey, her life and her relationship with the railway as they travelled around India to some of the nation’s most famous sites and landmarks.

Jack Rhodes – an apprentice shaping the next chapter in rail’s revolutionary story

Jack Rhodes was shortlisted for Railway Apprentice of the Year at the end of his 3 year apprenticeship with Alstom, where he is now just starting his engineering career in the rail industry.  Following that, Jack was chosen to help seal the official Railway 200 time capsule into the Roundhouse at Derby. The time capsule is packed with anniversary artefacts. It marks this year’s bicentenary and heralds a simpler, better and greener railway, driven by the next generation of pioneering talent.  The capsule will remain unopened for 50 years until the railway’s 250th anniversary in 2075.

Joe Smith – Time for analogue in a digital world

Smith of Derby have been making public clocks around the UK and rest of the world since the 1850s. If you have sought the time from an analogue station clock in a major station it is most likely a Smith of Derby clock. In this Great Rail Tale, Professor Joe Smith talks about what makes him tick, the family business, its heritage, why they have one clock that is always wrong and why he believes that an analogue clock will always survive in a digital world.

Linda Brinklow – Celebrating Railway 200 on the Isle of Sheppey

As Linda Brinklow steps down from her role as Chair of the Swale Branch of the Kent Community Rail Partnership, she reflects on a huge year of rail for the community of the Isle of Sheppey, its school children and rail users.

Riku Fryderyk – Remembering Ian Marchant and a Railway of Dreams

Inspired by Railway 200, YouTuber, Storyteller and documentary maker Riku has produced 2 films around key events and moments in the 200 year history of the rail industry. Their research and narrative has been strongly influenced by the late Ian Marchant; author, broadcaster and rail enthusiast. In this Great Rail Tale, Riku describes how Ian inspired them and raised their hopes for the future of the railway.