Cecil J. Allen Explained

Cecil J Allen
Birth Date:1886
Death Date:5 February 1973
Nationality:English
Occupation:Railway engineer
Employer:Great Eastern Railway
London & North Eastern Railway

Cecil John Allen[1] (1886 – 5 February 1973[2]) was a British railway engineer and technical journalist and writer.

Work

Allen qualified as a civil engineer and joined the Great Eastern Railway in 1903, later working for the London & North Eastern Railway retiring in 1946.[3] He inspected new rails for quality.

Allen also was the second contributor to the long-running British locomotive practice and performance article series in The Railway Magazine from 1909 to 1958,[4] He was concurrently editor of Trains Illustrated in the 1940s, and was succeeded in that position by his son, Geoffrey Freeman Allen, in 1950.[5]

Allen was a committed Christian and an accomplished organist, writing a chorus "The Lord has need of me". He was offered a place on the train when Mallard broke the world speed record in 1938, but declined the offer as the run was scheduled for a Sunday morning and clashed with his regular church (Christian Brethren) attendance. He died on 5 February 1973.[6]

Bibliography

He wrote numerous books on locomotives, and railway company histories, as well as an autobiography "Two Million Miles of Train Travel":[4]

Locomotives
Railway company histories
General railways
Other

See also

Notes and References

  1. "Allen, Cecil J., 1886-1973" at Library of Congress Linked Data Service.
  2. Obituary in The Times 7 February 1973
  3. Mr Cecil J Allen The Railway Magazine issue 566 November 1946 page 389
  4. Web site: Cecil J. Allen. www.steamindex.com.
  5. News: Geoffrey Freeman Allen: The model railway writer. The Guardian. 16 August 1995. 10. Roger Ford.
  6. Cecil J Allen The Railway Magazine issue 872 March 1973 page 189
  7. Web site: The Deltics: a symposium by Cecil J. Allen and others. catalogue.nla.gov.au. National Library of Australia.
  8. Web site: Hymns and the Christian faith 1 edition, By Cecil John Allen. www.openlibrary.org.