Now available in paperback, this is the first academic book to study railway enthusiasts in Britain. Far from a trivial topic, the post-war train spotting craze swept most boys and some girls into a passion for railways, and for many, ignited a lifetime’s interest. British railway enthusiasm traces this post-war cohort, and those which followed, as they invigorated different sectors in the world of railway enthusiasm – train spotting, railway modelling, collecting railway relics – and then, in response to the demise of main line steam traction, Britain’s now-huge preserved railway industry. Today this industry finds itself riven by tensions between preserving a loved past which ever fewer people can remember and earning money from tourist visitors. The widespread and enduring significance of railway enthusiasm will ensure that this groundbreaking text remains a key work in transport studies, and will appeal to enthusiasts as much as to students and scholars of transport and cultural history.

A Privileged Journey, Volume 1 1940-1962 is a personal and individual account of the author' youthful enthusiasm for trains and the travels he undertook in Great Britain and on the European continent as a student and management trainee of British Railways. It is illustrated by over 140 black and white photos, mostly taken by the author himself as a boy and student. The chapters cover the emergence of the young boy's interest in steam locomotives in particular, through his 'trainspotting' days to his numerous journeys in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with many accounts of locomotive performance supported by an extensive appendix of train 'logs'. Some of the chapters are much extended narratives from articles serialised in the UK enthusiast magazine, 'Steam World' over the last decade and are also based on ten hours of verbal interviews recorded by the UK National Railway Museum at York as part of their 'Oral History' archives supported by a UK National Lottery Grant.??The second volume, to be published at a later date, covering the period from 1962 to the current time, will describe his continuing interest and records while pursuing his career as stationmaster, area manager, train planner, Regional operating manager and finally Head of Safety before his retirement in 1996 and subsequent career as an international railway safety consultant.

Limited Edition, published by Transport Treasury Publishing. This is a specialist railway book unusually aimed at three distinct and separate markets. The name of George Heiron will certainly be known to the railway market as a man whose high quality photographic images were complimented by his skills with the paintbrush. But this new book is no combination of photographs and paintings, instead it depicts just one medium; the photographs, and in so doing showcases some of the best examples of Geroge Heiron’s skill with the lens. The subject is is steeped in romanticism; the steam era railway scene on the lines of the late Great Western Railway and in a way probably no other photographer has achieved. In this respect its appeal is certainly not just for the railway enthusiast although the compilers detailed captions portray the technical information should that be required. Instead it is also a book for the photographic connoisseur. For someone who enjoys seeing how art can be created from everyday scenes, trains, structures, people – indeed from the very fabric of everyday life. Finally it is a book for the coffee table. To be dipped into and savoured at leisure, for be sure once picked up it will prove a hard book to replace.

"Including the nation's best-kept-secret railways"--Cover.

'A trip back in time' DAILY TELEGRAPH A love of railways, a love of history, a love of nostalgia. ______________________________ Get ready to board the slow train to another era, to a time when travel meant more than hurrying from one place to the next. On the Slow Train will reconnect you with that long-missed need for escape, and reminds us to lift our heads from the daily grind and remember that there are still places in Britain where we can take the time to stop and stare. This book is a paean to another age: before milk churns, train porters and cats on seats were replaced by security announcements and Burger King wrappers. These 12 spectacular journeys will help free us from what Baudelaire denounced as 'the horrible burden of time.' ___________________________________ 'Captivating' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'Deep in our soul, the railways represent an idyll that we love' INDEPENDENT 'A magical world, barely changed since the golden age of rail' DAILY MAIL 'Superb' RAILYWAY MAGAZINE 'Memory lane . . . An intriguing social snapshot' HERITAGE RAILWAY