G. Freeman Allen

Another in our series looking at Look and Learn contributors...

Author Geoffrey Freeman Allen was born March 16, 1922, the son of Cecil J. Allen. Like his father, Allen became a noted writer about trains and railway systems. His first books on the subject appeared in 1947, published by Ian Allan, for whom his father was editing Trains Illustrated and Trains Annual. G. Freeman Allen edited Locospotters Annual and Jane’s World Railways as well as writing several dozen books covering the history of British locomotives from steam to the latest innovations. Many of his books went through several editions.

He died in the North Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, on July 7, 1995, aged 73.

Non-fiction
The Line That Jack Built: The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway. A pictorial history. London, Ian Allan, 1947.
Locovariety. London, Ian Allan, 1947.
The Ian Allan Regional Rounds no.1: Eastern and North Eastern Regions. London, Ian Allan, 1949.
Railways the World Over. London, Ian Allan, 1952.
The Locospotter's Special. London, Ian Allan, 1954.
The Locospotter's Special no.2. London, Ian Allan, 1955.
Famous Trains. Hampton Court, Ian Allan, 8 vols., 1955-58.
The Locospotters' Annual 1957, etc. London, Ian Allan, 8(?) vols., 1956-63?. [1965 ed. on ed. by G. M. Kichenside]
The South Wales Pullman Paddington-Swansea. London, Ian Allan, 1956.
Trains Illustrated Summer Annual. London, Ian Allan, 4 vols., 1957-60; continued as Trains Illustrated Annual 1961. London, Ian Allan, 1961.
British Railways Today and Tomorrow. London, Ian Allan, 1959. (2nd ed.) 1960 (3rd ed.) 1962
British Trains of Tomorrow. London, Ian Allan, 1960.
The Ian Allan Book of Railways (compilation of stories from Ian Allan Locospotters' Annuals 1-3). London, Ian Allan, 1961.
Modern Railways the World Over. London, Ian Allan, 1961.
British Rail After Beeching. London, Allan, 1966.
Last Years of British Steam. London, Ian Allan, 1967.
Into the 125 m.p.h. era on French Railways. London, French Railways Ltd., 1970?; Shepperton, Ian Allan, 1971.
Salute to the LNER. London, Ian Allan, 1977.
The Fastest Trains in the World. London, Ian Allan, 1978.
Illustrated History of Railways in Britain. London, Marshall Cavendish, 1979.
London Steam of the 1930s. London, Allan, 1979.
The Western Since 1948. London, I. Allan, 1979.
Modern Railways. London, Hamlyn, 1980.
The Eastern Since 1948. London, Ian Allan, 1981.
The Illustrated History of British Railways, co-ed. with Patrick Whitehouse. London, Arthur Barker, 1981.
Modern Railways International Review. London, Ian Allan, 1981.
The Eastern Yesterday and Today. London, Ian Allan, 1982.
Jane's World Railways 1982-83, etc. (24th-36th editions). London, Jane's, 13 vols., 1982-94.
Railways: Past, Present & Future, foreword by Sir Peter Parker. London, Orbis Publishing, 1982.
The Riddles Standard Types in Traffic. London, Allen & Unwin, 1982.
Trains. Hove, Wayland, 1982.
Railways of the Twentieth Century. London, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1983.
Eric Treacy: Railway Photographer, introduction by J. A. Coiley. Newton Abbot, David & Charles, 1982; as Great Railway Photographs by Eric Treacy, Peerage, 1987.
British Railfreight Today and Tomorrow. London, Jane's, 1984.
The Southern Since 1948. Shepperton, Ian Allan, 1987.
The Yeoman 59s. London, Jane's Transport, 1987.
Railway Technology International. London, Sterling Publications, (?) vols., 1988-??. [annual]
North American Railroads Today. London, Brian Trodd Pub. House, 1990.
The World's Fastest Trains: From the Age of Steam to the TGV. Sparkford, Patrick Stephens, 1992.
ABC of British Electric Trains. Shepperton, Ian Allan, 1999.

Others
British Atlantic Locomotives by Cecil J. Allen, revised and enlarged by G. Freeman Allen. London, Allan, 1976.

(* Locospotters Annual 1960 above presumably © Ian Allan; no idea about the other one. I'm not sure if any of G. Freeman Allen's books are still in print but there are quite a few secondhand editions available via Amazon, listed under both G. Freeman Allen and Geoffrey Freeman Allen.