Freightmaster

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Back in the early 90s, I was doing a lot of videoing - I even released some titles - the '37s in Focus' and '47s in Focus' series. I was also becoming interested in freight, but after the demise of 'Freightfax', I had trouble finding out what was running and where to go... I visited Collectors Corner in London and bought a full set of just-out-of-date freight WTTs. However, I found these very difficult to read 'in the field', constantly having to flick between 'up' and 'down' sections to find out what was due next. So for ease of use, I typed out lists of what was due in both directions at a particular location, together with what type of train it was, and what it should be hauled by. (sound familiar?!) When I showed people these lists, they said I should publish them in a book, so in Winter 1994, the first 'Freightmaster' appeared, photcopied and stapled together, costing Ј4.95. The book was immediately a huge success, and during 1995, each edition sold more than I could produce! In Summer, I was contacted by a particularly impressed reader from Swindon who happened to be a business consultant as well as a railway enthusiast and that he thought Freightmaster had massive potential, but I needed to get the project out of first gear, starting with getting the book properly printed and bound, rather than just photocopied. From the Spring 1996 edition, therefore, the book has been printed commercially, initially by Tekprint in Swindon, and in recent years by Stephens and George of Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. The reader's name was Martin Buck , and since early 1996, he has been responsible for the production of Freightmaster, from overseeing design and production at Tekprint through to the distribution of the books to the shops! He has also been responsible for the development of Freightmaster, and our many brainstorming sessions over the years has led to several revamps of Freightmaster: Having the book professionally printed enabled us to relaunch the book, with more tables, a new 'Freight Encyclopedia' section, and a rather jazzy metallic silver front cover! Sales continued to grow during 1996, but readers complained that the metallic covers were easily damaged, so from the Winter 1996 edition, the book gained a laminated full colour cover. The first picture to grace the cover of the book was appropriately taken at Swindon! In 1997, we were busily preparing for the launch of Freightmaster's passenger companion volume 'Class One', so I had little time to make improvements to Freightmaster itself. However, I had been taking note of readers' comments received during the year, so in spring 1998 came...

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