Chris Green books - The InterCity Story and The Network South East Story

[steven156]

Have read these two books over the last few days, the Network Southeast Story was in fact the proverbial "hot off the presses".  

 

Written by Chris Green and the late Mike Vincent, I found these books telling the story of both successful operators in Chris Green's time in a professional descriptive factual manner and not quite the first-person autobiography style I was expecting.  I was expecting for people to be named in shamed like in some controversial autobiographies where the writer "bares all" but was pleasantly surprised in the objective, professional and factual way the stories of each company were told.  

 

From both books you get the full story, from the good times when Network Southeast painted everything red and when Intercity introduced the 225's to the penny pinching often obstructive past government policy BUT also the books tell of the successes and indeed the failures of today's privatised railway.   

 

Fantastic illustrations, diagrams and really good appendices with lots of graphs, comparisons and fact files make these a good read, and to thinking- maybe Privatisation wasn't a bad thing after all.....

[Dava]

Maybe Chris Green was the best CEO British Rail never had?

 

Dava

[Horsetan]

I once saw Chris Green appear on a Challenge Anneka programme.

[Oldddudders]

I must get hold of these. Having worked for Chris at various times since 1986, both in BR and afterwards, he really is the inspirational and energetic chap you might hope. He is also very good at working with people at the coal-face, not just his lieutenants, and inspiring them, too. I suspect he had too much charisma for the Government's advisers to allow him to get the top spot.

[The Stationmaster]

I must get hold of these. Having worked for Chris at various times since 1986, both in BR and afterwards, he really is the inspirational and energetic chap you might hope. He is also very good at working with people at the coal-face, not just his lieutenants, and inspiring them, too. I suspect he had too much charisma for the Government's advisers to allow him to get the top spot.

And his alleged cavalier nature regarding financial assessments for some projects might not have helped either - I know that on at least one fairly hefty spend all the financial appraisals were written, and made to fit, after the project had been authorised and was underway and I suspect that if there was any knowledge of that sort of thing at a higher level it might have counted against him were.

 

But definitely an inspirational character and a great man at doing things which boosted the railway's image and coming out with fresh ideas although some of them didn't reach fruition.   He did some work for London & Continental on Regional Eurostar alternatives and i think in the end was rather frustrated that there was not much that could be different.  He brought his proposal to me  to check for practicality etc and I handed him a sealed envelope and asked him to open it - he asked what it was and I replied that it was what I expected his proposal would be, which rather amused him.  It was even more interesting when he compared my plan with his and only one train was slightly different - simply because in reality you were so constrained you couldn't do it any other way.

[James Makin]

Is reprinted The InterCity Story much different to the original 1994 print with the IC225 cover?

 

I can thorough recommend it as a great read! As a kid I used to have a library copy I'd endlessly re-read and kept loaning out, probably had it for a good couple of years until the Library asked for it back!! It's a great summary of the history for newbies but fascinating for the cheesy BR press photographs spanning the 60s-90s - some absolute danish blue! 10/10 book for me

[5944]

A quick plug - Chris Green will be giving a presentation about his new book at Stevenage Loco Society on Thursday 26th June. Entry costs £2 for non-members, tea/coffee and a biscuit at half time available for 30p. There should be the Battle of Britain Loco Society sales stand in attendance too. Chris will be bringing copies of his book along for sale as well. Details of how to find the venue and other info at http://stevenagelocosociety.co.uk/

[Mike Storey]

Is reprinted The InterCity Story much different to the original 1994 print with the IC225 cover?

 

I can thorough recommend it as a great read! As a kid I used to have a library copy I'd endlessly re-read and kept loaning out, probably had it for a good couple of years until the Library asked for it back!! It's a great summary of the history for newbies but fascinating for the cheesy BR press photographs spanning the 60s-90s - some absolute danish blue! 10/10 book for me

 

I think that one was by Dr John Prideaux?

[Gwiwer]

I met Chris Green a couple of times during my railway career.  Inspirational he most certainly was.  A possible irritant to the highest echelons of Government, yes, but a doer and a strategic and positive thinker.  A man who truly made time to talk with all his staff at any level and at times his customers as well.  The only other leader of his ilk I have encountered personally would be Hubert Guyot, one-time CEO of Yarra Trams in Melbourne and who was also thinking and acting several steps ahead of the pack and streets ahead of the government of the day.

 

Among all the positive and turnaround initiatives brought about the irony was not lost that everything was painted red under a man called Green

[Bernard Lamb]

I once saw Chris Green appear on a Challenge Anneka programme.

I made coffee for his wife last Thursday.

Bernard

[James Makin]

I think that one was by Dr John Prideaux?

 

Could be, this is the link to mine on Amazon -

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Intercity-Story-Mike-Vincent/dp/0860935248/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1402039621&sr=8-2&keywords=the+intercity+story

 

It's got Chris Green and Mike Vincent's names+ on the cover but could well have John Prideaux's input somewhere!

 

Available used on Amazon for £3.27 - what a steal!!

[Oldddudders]

I made coffee for his wife last Thursday.

Bernard

Do I recall the lady is Austrian?

[The Stationmaster]

I think that one was by Dr John Prideaux?

Ah, one of John Welsby's less than favourite senior managers!   I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone at senior level in the railway industry be quite as rude about another senior figure in the industry in front of mixed levels of management as JW was on one occasion about Dr Prideaux;  I got a very strong impression that JW was no more a fan than certain folk on the WR had been a good few years previously.  Strange world.

[Mike Storey]

Ah, one of John Welsby's less than favourite senior managers!   I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone at senior level in the railway industry be quite as rude about another senior figure in the industry in front of mixed levels of management as JW was on one occasion about Dr Prideaux;  I got a very strong impression that JW was no more a fan than certain folk on the WR had been a good few years previously.  Strange world.

 

John P was certainly not a people person, whereas John W most definitely was! I remember being utterly bollocked by John P over something (not a unique experience for many of us) which John W subsequently promoted as part of BRB's future strategy (not that it was to last very long by then). At the time, I did not appreciate John P's management style, but with the benefit of many years of reflection, it was his academic rigour that set the success story that became InterCity, along with another non-people person, Bob Reid 1, who set the framework initially. Chris Green's USP was his ability to combine both aspects of an MD's necessary characteristics, and he, like many a legend before and since, bent the rules to make things happen. He might therefore have not lasted long in the straight-jacket that was the chair's role. He was (is) an extremely complex and intelligent individual. His brother, Alex, with whom I had the pleasure of working some years earlier (at Tonbridge), was of the same mould, but did not get/make the same breaks.

[Andy Y]

The original InterCity book was produced to commemorate the end of the InterCity business in 1994. It was completed in something like six weeks from the first text being produced to finished film – the production of which was handled by the Public Affairs team at InterCity HQ where I worked at the time (I followed Chris Green to IC from NSE). It was my job to manage the production process throughout and work with external typesetters, designers and our repro team in Witney working with Colin Judge (formerly of OPC) who was our liaison with the repro house and printer.

 

My former SR and NSE colleague Gary Smith was persuaded to temporarily come out of retirement to source pictures from both internal and external photographers and from the various photo libraries that existed in BR at that time.

 

Although John Prideaux contributed, the book was a team effort (some chapters were compiled by well known authors at the time) with Mike and Chris Green writing the copy and Mike acting as overall Editor and bringing all the contributions into the house style.

 

The new InterCity Story book takes it beyond the 1994 date of the original and includes the operators who inherited the foundations laid by InterCity and have built up from there.

 

Knowing the timescales for most railway books, six weeks from first word to final film for plate making and printing is unlikely ever to be beaten and this was achieved when the only scanners cost a fortune and were in printers repro houses and digital photography was yet to come. Scanning a transparency took considerably longer than we are used to today.

 

However, we all relished the opportunity to tell the story and worked to make it happen.

 

It was at the 25^th Anniversary of the launch of NSE event in 2011 that the seeds were sown for the recently published NSE book to sit alongside an updated InterCity book which has added a further 20 years of achievement to its pages.

I am proud to have worked for Chris Green in both organisations (and again later at Virgin Trains) and to have had the pleasure of working with the very talented railway author, railway manager and good friend Mike Vincent. Sadly he passed away unexpectedly before the book had been printed.

 

Dennis Lovett

(formerly Network SouthEast and InterCity Public Affairs)

Public Relations Manager

Bachmann Europe Plc

[Xerces Fobe2]

Chris Gren will also giving his The Network SouthEast Story on Thursday 11th September 2014 at the St Albans Branch of the LCGB

[Xerces Fobe2]

I purchased this book today in Penzance for £25.50

 

Not had a chance to look at it yet though

 

XF

[Guest]

Only just noticed this thread and will be sourcing a copy of Chris Green's The Network SouthEast Story as a Christmas present to myself! Like others, I've met the man and he certainly made his mark. I began my railway career in '83 and it was a depressing time. The advent of NSE and some "joined up thinking" certainly made a difference, perhaps not so much with the travelling public, but certainly to the staff within. Many thanks to the OP - I had no idea this book existed.

[keefer]

Might have to look these out, they sound as if they'll be the real deal on perhaps the most famous of BR 'brands'.

Does anyone know if there's an equivalent work on his days in ScotRail? I think that's the first time I became aware of the name Chris Green - the blue-stripe livery, station reopenings and the glasgow-edinburgh-aberdeen triangle 'ScotRail Express' network.

Always struck me as someone whose name and initiatives became familiar to the general public, in a world where those at the top were often pretty anonymous.