Clarence Reginald Dalby (known as C. Reginald Dalby; he hated the name "Clarence") was born in 1904. After winning a scholarship to and attending the Leicester College of Art, he worked for five years producing designs for packaging - including the very first Glacier Mints Polar Bear on the side of a delivery van. As the illustrations for the Railway Series only took him six weeks on average, he had ample time for his own work and other work commissioned. He managed to publish his own book, inspired by the ferries at Poole Harbour, Dorset, called "Tales of Flitterwick Harbour".