The Toss of a Coin

David Maidment traces the origins of his career choice through early enthusiasm for steam trains, through a fascinating three year period as a 'Traffic Apprentice' and then a career in Operations Management influenced by the fateful toss of the coin referred to in the title of the book. David was at the forefront of the significant change from reactive to proactive safety management systems on the railways in both the UK and overseas and encounters with street children on stations in other countries he visited stimulated him to found the Railway Children charity in 1995. The book is based on ten hours of interviews made for the National Rail Museum's oral history archive. All royalties from this book will be donated to the Railway Children charity (Charity Commission 1058991, www.railwaychildren.org.uk)