Alfred Raworth’s Electric Southern Railway

THERE are not many on whom the title ‘electrification genius’ might be conferred, but engineer Alfred Raworth (1882-1967) was arguably one of them.

This biography, as the title suggests, covers much more ground than the life of its principal subject, describing the far-from-straightforward development of UK suburban and main line electrification in the first half of the 20th century. Divided into two parts, the first half of the book relates Raworth’s early career as an engineer and his induction, aged 30, to the railway world, while the second examines his role developing the hardware for ‘Southern Electric’ the brand that emerged after Grouping on the increasingly-electrified network of the then fledgling Southern Railway.

The text is carefully researched and although a former engineer himself, Steer appears to have been at pains to ensure that non-technical readers don’t feel intimidated by the technical world inhabited by Raworth, and that defined his career. Jargon is avoided and complicated concepts are reduced to more easily understood component parts.

Some readers might prefer more illustrations and, curiously, for a modern publication, most of the images on the high quality paper pages are in black and white, even those relating to more recent times. This is a relatively minor, though nonetheless disappointing, quibble. A separately numbered block of 16 colour pages separates the book’s two halves, including maps, illustrations and just a handful of photographs.