Books we like ... and books we're not too fussed about
Laurence Waters
Heathfield Railway Publications 2009
This book isn’t for everybody. Inexplicably some will find pictures of railway lines and stations taken many years ago set against ones of the same scene taken from the same perspective now rather dull. I’ve always found such pairings fascinating, however. It doesn’t matter whether they show trains or not; it’s just interesting to see what’s changed and what’s remained the same. Such an approach taken to the railway is always a bit depressing however: fine station buildings replaced by bus shelters; lines lifted and the trackbed returned to nature; a Sprinter where there was once a steam engine. Never mind. If you get too down, the vocabulary of the train enthusiast will cheer you up: trains always power along the lines; preserved lines have always been lovingly restored; we learn of up relief lines, block posts, and bay platforms. If you like this kind of thing, you’ll like this; if you don’t, you won’t.
25 May 2010
See also: London Midland Then and Now
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