O.S. Nock
Encyclopedia
Oswald Stevens Nock usually known as O.S. Nock, was a British
railway author and signal engineer. He is known for his prodigious output of books on the subject of Railways.
, his father became manager of a bank in Reading
soon after Oswald's birth, and as a young child he was regularly taken in his pushchair to both the GWR
and SECR lines that served Reading.
From 1913, young Oswald attended Marlborough House and then Reading School, before becoming a boarder at Giggleswick School
in 1916 when the family moved to Barrow-in-Furness
. Despite moderate performances in maths and science, Nock passed his school certificate and London matriculation examinations in 1920, and entered the City & Guilds Engineering College in London the following year. In 1924 he was awarded a BSc and having made unsuccessful applications to the GWR, Vickers
at Barrow, and Armstrong Whitworth
he became a graduate trainee at the Westinghouse, Brake, and Saxby Signal Co. Ltd
the following year.
" in moving from mechanical signalling to electrically controlled systems, however the early 1930s saw a slump in work with many there fearing for their jobs. To supplement his income Nock took a correspondence course in journalism after answering an advertisement entitled 'More Profit from Writing'. His first article was entitled 'Carlisle, a Station of Changes' and appeared in the Railway Magazine in January 1932. He had more success soon after when a mini-feature entitled ‘Hyde Park's ghost trains’ appeared in the Evening News
. Over the following 2 years Nock had 16 articles published, but he was concerned that either his writing or his job would be jeopardised if he was published under his own name, so everything except contributions to the Railway Magazine, which was considered something of a joke in some professional circles, was written under a pen name; often using his second name of Stevens prefixed by two letters CK from his surname, or under the pseudonym of 'Railway Engineer'. Nock also worked to develop his writing skills away from Railway subjects and through his love of the country and keenness on purely pictorial landscape photography he found an occasional market in The Motor
. Articles such as 'A Lonely Scottish Lido', 'The Gateway of the Lakes' and 'The Country of St Abb' appeared, despite Nock not owning a car. Nock himself considered the article 'Autumn in Moidart' which appeared under his own name in the Glasgow Herald in November 1934 to be his best, but after this writing about Railways began to take off.
On 15 May 1937 Nock married Olivia Hattie Ravenall at Bushey
parish church before taking her on honeymoon on the Flying Scotsman
. They settled in a large house on Sion Hill, Bath, where they had a daughter and a son. It was here that Nock created an O gauge model railway with twenty-three hand-built locomotives.
In the 1960s and the 1980s he lived in Batheaston
, near Bath.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
railway author and signal engineer. He is known for his prodigious output of books on the subject of Railways.
Early life
Oswald Stevens Nock was the first son of Samuel James Nock and his wife Rose Amy (née Stevens). Born in Sutton ColdfieldSutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...
, his father became manager of a bank in Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
soon after Oswald's birth, and as a young child he was regularly taken in his pushchair to both the GWR
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and SECR lines that served Reading.
From 1913, young Oswald attended Marlborough House and then Reading School, before becoming a boarder at Giggleswick School
Giggleswick School
Giggleswick School is an independent co-educational boarding school in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England.- Early school :...
in 1916 when the family moved to Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
. Despite moderate performances in maths and science, Nock passed his school certificate and London matriculation examinations in 1920, and entered the City & Guilds Engineering College in London the following year. In 1924 he was awarded a BSc and having made unsuccessful applications to the GWR, Vickers
Vickers Limited
Vickers Limited was a famous British engineering conglomerate that merged into Vickers-Armstrongs in 1927.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
at Barrow, and Armstrong Whitworth
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
he became a graduate trainee at the Westinghouse, Brake, and Saxby Signal Co. Ltd
Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company Ltd
The Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company Ltd was created in 1935 when the Westinghouse Brake & Saxby Signal Company Ltd, dropped the 'Saxby' from their title...
the following year.
Life as an author
When Nock joined, Westinghouse was enjoying much work with the newly formed "Big FourBig Four British railway companies
The Big Four was a name used to describe the four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923-1947. The name was coined by the Railway Magazine in its issue of February 1923: "The Big Four of the New Railway Era".The Big Four were:...
" in moving from mechanical signalling to electrically controlled systems, however the early 1930s saw a slump in work with many there fearing for their jobs. To supplement his income Nock took a correspondence course in journalism after answering an advertisement entitled 'More Profit from Writing'. His first article was entitled 'Carlisle, a Station of Changes' and appeared in the Railway Magazine in January 1932. He had more success soon after when a mini-feature entitled ‘Hyde Park's ghost trains’ appeared in the Evening News
Evening News (London)
Evening News, formerly known as The Evening News, was an evening newspaper published in London from 1881 to 1980, reappearing briefly in 1987. It became highly popular under the control of the Harmsworth brothers. For a long time it maintained the largest daily sale of any evening newspaper in London...
. Over the following 2 years Nock had 16 articles published, but he was concerned that either his writing or his job would be jeopardised if he was published under his own name, so everything except contributions to the Railway Magazine, which was considered something of a joke in some professional circles, was written under a pen name; often using his second name of Stevens prefixed by two letters CK from his surname, or under the pseudonym of 'Railway Engineer'. Nock also worked to develop his writing skills away from Railway subjects and through his love of the country and keenness on purely pictorial landscape photography he found an occasional market in The Motor
The Motor (magazine)
The Motor was a British weekly car magazine founded on 28 January 1903....
. Articles such as 'A Lonely Scottish Lido', 'The Gateway of the Lakes' and 'The Country of St Abb' appeared, despite Nock not owning a car. Nock himself considered the article 'Autumn in Moidart' which appeared under his own name in the Glasgow Herald in November 1934 to be his best, but after this writing about Railways began to take off.
On 15 May 1937 Nock married Olivia Hattie Ravenall at Bushey
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
parish church before taking her on honeymoon on the Flying Scotsman
Flying Scotsman (train)
The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...
. They settled in a large house on Sion Hill, Bath, where they had a daughter and a son. It was here that Nock created an O gauge model railway with twenty-three hand-built locomotives.
Books
Nock authored more than 140 books and 1000 magazine articles, which are often considered to be less than authoritative because of his voluminous output. He tended to re-use data, text and anecdotes in different books, including paragraphs culled in their entirety (check similarities in "Steam Locomotive" 1957 & "British Steam Railways" 1962). Having said that, Nock's style is easily read and he explains engineering issues in layman's terms, making the subject more accessible. His continuation of E. L. Ahrons' work, continuing steam locomotive development from 1925, is much more friendly to the layman or armchair enthusiast than Ahrons' seminal work "The British Steam Railway Locomotive Volume 1 From 1825 to 1925". If his work is treated as a general picture of railways in action, from the personal viewpoint of someone who was there and who interacted with railway personnel at various levels, both professionally and in his leisure time, his output is reasonably valid. One of his most famous books was 'The Pocket Encyclopedia of British Steam Railways and Locomotives'In the 1960s and the 1980s he lived in Batheaston
Batheaston
Batheaston is a village and civil parish east of Bath, England , on the north bank of the River Avon. The parish has a population of 2,625...
, near Bath.
Partial bibliography
- Steam Locomotive. 1957.
- The South Eastern & Chatham Railway. 1961.
- British Steam Railways. 1962
- The Great Western Railway in the Twentieth Century. Ian Allan 1964.
- Steam Railways in Retrospect, A & C Black, London, 1966.
- North Western A history of the L.N.W.R. 1968
- The Railway Enthusiasts Encyclopedia, Hutchinson, 1968. ISBN 0-09-903310-0
- Speed Records on Britain's Railways, David & Charles, 1972. ISBN 0-330-23365-3
- World Atlas of Railways. New York: Mayflower Books (original publisher: Artists House, London, UK), 1978. ISBN 0-8317-9500-X.
- The Limited, George Allen & Unwin, 1979. ISBN 0-04-285073-1
- British Locomotives of the 20th Century Volume 1, 2 & 3. 1982
- Great British Trains. 1985
- Historic Railway Disasters