In the preface the authors describe their approach, 'In examining the social history of railway stations we were concerned to treat them not as inanimate objects, but as living, breathing places which, better than any other building type of the last 150 years, reflected the societies around them, public buildings which people used in all sorts of ways and whose significance they instantly recognized when depicted in the theatre, the cinema, paintings, photographs, poetry, novels, and travel works. For this reason we have chosen to allow other voices to tell part of the story, to illustrate through quotation the central, but often differing, role of the station in so many societies and so many lives.'They succeed triumphantly in this aim. After the introduction aptly called 'The Mystique of the Railway Station' there are fifteen absorbing chapters covering: The Station in Architecture (three chapters); The Station and Society; The Station in Politics; Class, Race, and Sex; Some Station Types; The Station in the Economy (two chapters); The Station as Place of Work; The Station in Wartime (two chapters); The Usual Offices; The Station in Painting and Poetry, Postcard and Poster; and The Station in Literature and Film. The scope is comprehensive, the achievement magnificent.'written with great enthusiasm . . . packed with rich detail. This is real social history.' Asa Briggs'full of good quotations, and (the authors) write with the infectious enthusiasm of addicts, captivated by the romance of railways' Times Literary Supplement'remarkable . . . the railway station in all its aspects' A. N. Wilson.

Discover the architectural gems that are Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations in this Sunday Times top 10 bestseller 'This is a cracker . . . a beautiful book' Chris Evans It is the scene for our hopeful beginnings and our intended ends, and the timeless experiences of coming and going, meeting, greeting and parting. It is an institution with its own rituals and priests, and a long-neglected aspect of Britain's architecture. And yet so little do we look at the railway station. Simon Jenkins has travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Waterloo to Wemyss Bay, Betws-y-Coed to Beverley, to select his hundred best railway stations. Blending his usual insight and authority with his personal reflections and experiences - including his founding the Railway Heritage Trust - the foremost expert on our national heritage deftly reveals the history, geography, design and significance of each of these glories. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of our social history shows the station's role in the national imagination; champions the engineers, architects and rival companies that made them possible; and tells the story behind the triumphs and follies of these very British creations. These are the marvellous, often undersung places that link our nation, celebrated like never before. 'However spectacular the book's photographs, it's the author's prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages' The Times 'An uplifting exploration of our social history' Guardian

This work discusses the planning, design and management of railway stations. It examines a range of stations. Commercial aspects and matters of image and branding are explored alongside technical and operational issues.

Railway stations have long held a special place in the public's affection. The lure of the great terminus has been especially strong, the breathtaking grandeur of its architecture fused with a promise of adventure and escape. This book is a celebration of the railway station's life and architecture. It examines the history of these fascinating structures, the great events - both factual and fictional - that have occurred there, and how they have formed an integral part of the life of the cities they serve. Steven Parissien discusses, with enthusiasm and erudition, the various architectural styles and developments that stations have witnessed over the past 150 years: from the early provincial and colonial railways, through the Victorian Gothic of London's St Pancras and the Beaux-Arts splendour of Grand Central Station in New York, to the modern structural feats of Nicholas Grimshaw's Waterloo International Terminal and Santiago Calatrava's Lyon Satolas. Archive pictures, railway ephemera and new photography are combined to create a fascinating visual record for anyone seduced by trains, railway stations and travel in general.

Helen has retreated to the remote north-west coast of Ireland to paint the sea and the shore, and to be alone with her past. English war hero Roger Hawthorne has settled in the neglected railway station house nearby. Mutilated and sick at heart, with the help of a young lad he has begun painstakingly to restore the derelict branch line station. Soon Roger and Helen form a bond which, over gramophone music, dancing and champagne, deepens into love. But Helen, enjoying her first taste of happiness in years, is to learn just how brutally fleeting it can be.

Chartered in 1834 to provide a route between New York City and Boston, the Long Island Rail Road ran from the Brooklyn waterfront through the center of Long Island to Greenport. The railroad served the agricultural market on Long Island until branches and competing lines eventually developed on the north and south shores of the island and several hundred passenger stations were built. After Penn Station was opened in 1910, the number of passengers commuting between Manhattan and Long Island began to multiply. Today, one hundred twenty-five stations serve the Long Island Rail Road. Long Island Rail Road Stations contains vintage postcards of the old Penn Station, which was demolished in the mid-1960s; the Grand Stairway at the Forest Hills Station, where Theodore Roosevelt delivered his famous unification speech on July 4, 1917; and the Amagansett station building, where Nazi spies boarded a train bound for New York City on June 13, 1942. Many of the historic stations featured in this book have been preserved by local preservation groups, while others have been replaced with modern buildings to accommodate the passengers who commute on the nation's largest commuter railroad.

An exciting new generation of railway architecture has emerged in Europe and elsewhere over the past decade. This book explains the reasons for the renaissance of the station as a building type and the current changes it is undergoing. The functional, social and technical factors which shape railway architecture are examined. As stations are essential elements of sustainable development, the environmental benefits of railways are also discussed. Essential guidance is provided for those who design, commission or manage railway stations. By drawing on technical design manuals and examples of recent stations (many designed by leading architects) the book gives help and instruction to all those with an interest in the future of railway architecture.

"Inter-city rail travel is one of the dominant facts of modern life. From the early nineteenth century, when the first train stations - "cathedrals of technology," buildings without precedent in the history of architecture - were constructed, these focal points of transportation have enjoyed a unique status in public life. They have come a long way from the simple wooden shed erected in Liverpool, England, in 1830." "In the wake of the rail renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s, new train stations, from the U.S. to Japan, must respond to increasingly complex challenges, as high-speed trains become more and more common and the next generation of magnetically levitated trains approaches. The state-of-the-art examples featured in Modern Trains and Splendid Stations are analyzed from several perspectives: as generators of urban renewal; as new architectural icons; and as connecting points from different means of transportation. Such internationally renowned architects as Helmut Jahn (in the United States), Nicholas Grimshaw (in England), and Arata Isozaki (in Japan) have all been involved in station design."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Railway revelations and brilliant new trips. The railways are one of our finest engineering legacies - a web of routes connecting people to each other and to a vast network of world-class attractions. It is also the best route to enjoying the landscape of Great Britain. Within these pages Vicki Pipe and Geoff Marshall from All the Stations (YouTube transport experts and survivors of a crowd-funded trip to visit all the stations in the UK) help you discover the hidden stories that lie behind branch lines, as well as meeting the people who fix the engines and put the trains to bed. Embark on unknown routes, disembark at unfamiliar stations, explore new places and get to know the communities who keep small stations and remote lines alive. Please note this is a fixed-format ebook with colour images and may not be well-suited for older e-readers.