In the early 1940s, Albert Knight and his brother were firemen on the Midland section of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and were based at Saltley locomotive depot near Birmingham. They regularly fired 'Black Fives' hauling freight on the seven-hour, forty-five minute / 225-mile run from Water Orton sidings to Carlisle Durran Hill via the 'Long Drag' (i.e. the Settle-Carlisle route).
In his six-page article (see attachment), Albert Knight describes a typical working day and recalls several particularly memorable incidents. On the final page, Albert Knight is pictured in front of a Derby-built class 2P locomotive (no 385).
The article was written by Albert Knight and first published (in serial form) in the August 2010, November 2010 and May 2011 issues of the FoSCL Journal.