On the Slow Train AgainMichael Williams has spent the past year travelling along the fascinating rail byways of Britain for this new collection of journeys. Here is the 'train to the end of the world' running for more than four splendid hours through lake, loch and moorland from Inverness to Wick, the most northerly town in Britain. He discovers a perfect country branch line in London's commuterland, and travels on one of the slowest services in the land along the shores of the lovely Dovey estuary to the far west of Wales. He takes the stopping train across the Pennines on a line with so few services that its glorious scenery is a secret known only to the regulars. Here, too, is the Bittern Line in Norfolk and the Tarka Line in North Devon as well as the little branch line to the fishing port of Looe in Cornwall, rescued from closure in the 1960s and now celebrating its 150th anniversary taking families on holiday to the seaside. From the most luxurious and historic - aboard the Orient Express - to the most futuristic - on the driverless trains of London's Docklands Light Railway - here is a unique travel companion celebrating the treasures of our railway heritage from one of Britain's most knowledgeable railway writers. |
Contents
| 1 | |
The 10 38 to the far north the train to | 25 |
The 16 40 from Liskeard Britains most eccentric | 43 |
The 10 34 from Morecambe a Brief Encounter | 59 |
The 10 58 from Bedford a Pilgrims Progress | 77 |
The 10 43 to the loneliest station along the banks | 93 |
The 09 59 to Lymington mind the doors on | 111 |
The 08 45 to Bristol Poirot takes a day trip | 127 |
The 10 20 on the tracks of the Atlantic Coast | 157 |
The 09 36 to Draculaland a meander along | 175 |
The 09 45 back to the future the strange case | 193 |
Acknowledgements | 207 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aberystwyth Bank Barnstaple Bedford Beeching Bittern Line Blackpool Bletchley branch line Bridge Britain British Rail British Railways built Cambrian Cambrian Line Cambrian Railways Carnforth carriages Castle Causeland century climb closure coaches coast commuters Cromer crossing Devon diesel Dovey Junction Dunrobin Castle East famous fish head heritage hills holiday Hotel industry Inverness journey Lancashire landscape Leeds Liskeard locomotive London Looe look Lymington Lymington Pier Machynlleth main line Marston Vale Line Midland miles modern Morecambe never Norfolk North Yorkshire Norwich numbers once Orient Express Pacer Paddington passengers past platform Preston Pullman Pwllheli Ridgmont river round route Sandplace says seaside side signal box Slow Train South West Trains station steam stop Tarka tells there's ticket tower town track tunnel viaduct Victorian village Wales West Western Railway Whitby Yorkshire