Eric Blackburn

Eric Blackburn was born in Hull in 1928, and after an elementary education, left school at 13 to become a farmer’s boy. His childhood interest in steam locomotives, however, had a stronger pull than muck, toil, and poverty, and with a little prompting on his part, the Fates determined he should become an engine driver. Not satisfied with that, these fickle mistresses saw him heading off to East Africa in 1955, for more steam-related adventures. In 1965, Eric married Shirley, the love of his life, with whom he lives in a little village at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds.