In this book, Malcolm Clegg traces the history of the British Transport Police from its origin nearly 200 years ago and describes how it evolved from different forces covering not only the railway companies but also docks, shipping, inland waterways, road transport, road haulage and other companies.

Published by Pen & Sword and written by Malcolm Clegg, This hardback book measures around 15.88 cm x 22.86 cm, has 256 pages, and 90 black and white illustrations. It has a published price of £25, and at the time of writing Pen & Sword has it available online for £22.50 and it can be obtained from Amazon for £19.08.

As stated in the sub-title, this book covers mainly the early years of the railway police. Chapter 1 titled “Development of the Railways” describes the years before railway police were established. Although Chapter 2, “Development of the Police Service”, includes mentions of transport police, it is mainly concerned with the description of the evolution of Policing in the UK.

At first sight, Chapter 3 “Railway Construction and Navvies” would seem to bear little relevance to the book, however many of the navvies had come to Britain from Ireland during the Potato Famine, and there were several cases of rioting and a railway policeman being killed.

Chapter 4 “Early Railway Policemen” could equally have been titled “Early Railway Signalmen” as it was the railway police who controlled the passage of trains on the early railways by operating signals, and standing next to the entrances to tunnels and bridges to indicate to rain drivers that the line was clear.

I found Chapter 5, “Nineteen-Century Railway Crime”, to be the book’s most-interesting read. We find that after Parliament passed the Common Carriers Act in 1830, the railways were obliged to carry certain goods whenever they were offered, and if they were lost they had to pay compensation. Railway policemen, therefore, played a great part in committing crimes, and the types of crime committed and the ingenuity of some criminals to avoid detection is quite revealing.

Chapter 6, “Railway Accidents and Liability”, is mainly a description of a selection of accidents with just a brief reference to the involvement of the railway police. Chapter 7, “Crimes Committed Against Passengers”, is again a very interesting read, but is all too brief, with descriptions of a few crimes and steps that railways took to make them safer for the public to travel on.

Chapter 8, “Dangers Facing Nineteenth-Century Railway Policemen”, is quite an eye-opener as it reveals that a number of policemen were killed while on duty. Chapter 9, “Analysis of 19th-Century Crime” is surprising, as it describes how trespassing on railway property or not fastening gates are criminal offences. Vandalism was also rife, as one of the most-common offences was throwing stones at railway signals to break the glass in signals.

Although only comprising only eight pages, Chapter 10 “Beyond The 19th-Century” is probably the most interesting chapter as it describes how the British Transport Police evolved during the early years of the 20th century, and absorbed police forces from several canals and docks that had previously had their own police forces. Chapter 11 “A Pictorial History of the Transport Police” lives up to its name with many photographs of police officers in uniform from 1860 to the present day. Unfortunately, the quality of many of them are spoiled through being printed on matt paper.

The book concludes with four Appendices that list Railway Byelaws, constituent forces of the British Transport Police, a list of railway and docks policemen who were killed on duty in the 19th century, and a list of Chief Constables of the British Transport Police.

The illustrations below give a good illustration of railway policemen performed the duties of a signalman. The left-hand illustrations show a policeman operating one of Brunel’s disc and crossbar signals in 1844, while the one on the right shows a railway policeman using hand signals to indicate to a train driver that the line is clear.

Health and Safety seem to be non-existent in the illustration at the top-left below where a railway policeman sits on top of a train to guard it, while another railway policeman is sitting by the lineside to guard the bridge. The lower photo shows a replica of an early railway policeman’s sentry box that is on display at the Didcot Railway Centre.

Until the introduction of the electric telegraph, one of the early railway policemen’s responsibilities was to act as signalmen. The illustration below shows a railway policeman standing outside an equally early signal box in 1851.

The photo on the left below brings home how safety has progressed, with a railway policeman standing next to a locomotive and holding a flag to indicate to the driver that the line was clear. At first sight, the policemen in the top-left photo below could be civilian police constables, but they are police constables of the London and North Western Railway in 1921. The lower photo shows a railway policeman wearing a completely different uniform, this one being of the Taff Vale Railway in 1899.

The photo below shows the dangers faced by early railway policemen during strikes. It shows a railway policeman flanked by armed guards to protect both him and the signal box during a railway strike in 1911.

This book fills a useful void in the history of Britain’s railways. Its revelation that the roots of the Force go right back to the development of the railways during the 19th century. An early photograph from 1860 showing a police officer standing next to a locomotive waiting to tell the driver the line was clear shows how different were early railway policemen’s duties. The author has done well to source many photos of early policemen, but he has been let down by poor selection of paper stock. The book will be of great interest to railway historians, and those who railway interests lie beyond simply observing trains. A little expensive, but still recommended.

The book is available to purchase from Amazon and from Pen & Sword.

We would like to thank Pen & Sword for providing RailAdvent with a copy of the book for review.