Great Western Coffee Shop

Samuel Robert Douglas Power (1931 - 2021) was the CM&EE of the Western Region when I joined BR Western Region as a CM&EE traction & rolling stock apprentice in 1975, his name is on the letter headed paper stating I had been accepted as an apprentice and to report to ......... etc

He over saw the introduction of the HSDT (inter city 125) onto the Western.

Someone who made his mark on the railway but very few in the industry today will have heard of

RiP

He will have worked closely with the remarkable Phillip Rees, then CCE, who  had c60 miles of line closed and excavated for deep ballasting, allowing the (then) billiard table smooth ride. I'm told the depth  has now been halved for future work! He retired in 1981 I think and there was a photo of him handing on the staff of office, Brunel's walking stick. He was still inspecting GWS Didcot at age 101, pronouncing the track, "quite good" - a rare compliment!

OTC

I too have reason to be grateful to Mr Power (as we knew him) when he was CM&EE at Paddington.  In 1973 he appointed me as an Engineering Assistant in his department based in the Departure Side offices at Paddington.  He was very keen on training and career development, and he expected us to work hard and deliver what we were there to do.   If something had gone wrong, we all dreaded the phone call from his secretary Anne asking us to pop down to see him.

He moved on to become CM&EE of the London Midland Region in Derby around 1980 I think.  As ET says, he made his mark on the railway.