Cecil J. Allen

Cecil John Allen[1] (1886 – 5 February 1973[2]) was a British railway engineer and technical journalist and writer.Allen also was the second contributor to the long-running British locomotive practice and performance article series in The Railway Magazine from 1909 to 1958,[4] He was concurrently editor of Trains Illustrated in the 1940s, and was succeeded in that position by his son, Geoffrey Freeman Allen, in 1950.[5] Allen was a committed Christian and an accomplished organist, writing a chorus "The Lord has need of me".He was offered a place on the train when Mallard broke the world speed record in 1938, but declined the offer as the run was scheduled for a Sunday morning and clashed with his regular church (Christian Brethren) attendance.[6] He wrote numerous books on locomotives, and railway company histories, as well as an autobiography "Two Million Miles of Train Travel":[4]
Mary Cecil AllenRailway engineerGreat Eastern RailwayLondon & North Eastern Railwaycivil engineerThe Railway MagazineTrains IllustratedGeoffrey Freeman AllenMallardIan Allan PublishingModern RailwaysLibrary of Congress Linked Data ServiceThe TimesThe Guardian