Jack Simmons (1915-2000) was an historian and writer on railways. From 1947 to 1975 he was Professor of History at Leicester University. In 1953, in partnership with Michael Robins, he established the Journal of Transport History, and, later on, he was one of those who helped found the National Railway Museum. His wide-ranging interests are demonstrated by his published works, ranging from biographies of Robert Southey and Livingstone, his topographical A Selective Guide to England, a history of St Pancras Railway Station (still the best book on the subject) to his monumental The Oxford Companion to British Railway History, co-written, edited and compiled with Gordon Biddle.