Phil Braithwaite completed an electrical engineering apprenticeship with Metropolitan Vickers and then served four years in the British merchant navy as an electrical engineering officer. He worked in South Africa for fourteen years on computer mainframes before changing direction to become a safari operator for two years. This is the second book he has produced alongside Paul Hurley, the first being Remembering Steam (2018). Paul Hurley has produced two commemorative rail books with his co-author Phil Braithwaite. He has also written a flagship railway book, an award-winning novel, an autobiography about his career in the police force, and some thirty books on local history.