Author name: Michael Williams

CATCHING a train at Carlisle station to travel over the Settle and Carlisle line yesterday, it was nice, though somewhat eerie, to find my own words staring at me from the Northern Rail timetable…

WHAT are the ghost trains that wend their spooky way around the rail network? And how about the ‘ghosties’ – the railway enthusiasts who travel on them? I spoke about this on BBC Local Radio this morning, describing my travels on Britain’s ‘ghost trains’  in my new book The Trains Now Departed: Sixteen excursions into

IN MY new book The Trains Now Departed: sixteen excursions into the lost delights of Britain’s railways, I explore some of the ways in which the experience of railway travel in Britain was often better than it is now. Here’s a wonderful example, taken from the British Railways Rule Book for staff in 1950. How wonderful

MANY HAVE  asked me about the lovely image on the cover of of my new book The Trains Now Departed. It is of the Headstone Viaduct, built by the Midland Railway over the River Wye in the Peak district of Derbyshire, on the old main line from St Pancras to Manchester.The picture was produced by the artist

For the past two years I’ve been on an odyssey to determine the best and worst of our national railway system. The results will be published in my new book The Trains Now Departed, out from Penguin Random House on May 7. You can argue over the good and bad bits of the railways. But

A turning point in the history of the railways today as Virgin takes over the East Coast main line. No more rivalry between King’s Cross and Euston almost since the railways were invented. Will history decide this to be a good thing? (Actually Stagecoach is the biggest stakeholder in East Coast, but they, too have

One of the nicest moments in an author’s life is the delicious  period between the long task of writing a book and the moment it is published. With the text edited and proof-read, the final updates made and just the illustrator to liaise with, I’m at that moment now. The jacket design looks fantastic –

I was honoured this weekend to have my memories and pictures included in an exhibition featuring Winston Churchill’s restored funeral train at the National Railway Museum. Here’s an article I wrote for the Daily Mail, which includes some of the transcript that’s included in the exhibition, which will be open until the end of 2015:

Very excited to be at the proof stage of of my new book The Trains Now Departed: Sixteen journeys into the lost delights of Britain’s railways. It’s published by Preface on May 7 2015, with some super line illustrations by Adam Burton.

Here’s me with Michael as we take the train from Knottingley to Goole in Yorkshire. Why is there only one train a day? And why does it continue to run when there is hardly ever anyone on it? All will be revealed…

With the 50th anniversary of Churchill’s funeral being marked at the end of this month, there are many delightful  stories about the war leader’s fondness for the railways – told in my most recent book Steaming to Victory.   In particular, he encouraged a unique sense of humour among railway staff that was often brought to

Just seen the proof of the smashing design of the jacket of my new book The Trains Now Departed: sixteen excursions into the lost delights of Britain’s railways, out from Preface Publishing on May 7 2015. Can anybody guess where this scene is? http://bit.ly/1r1FrBy

The wheels of academia turn slowly, so delighted to see this first major review of our book The Future of Quality News Journalism. Professor Leigh L. Wright says: ‘A book such as this collection allows professors and students to read and learn about real-life examples and struggles news organizations face to maintain quality in an

See me talking about my research for Steaming to Victory on a super new DVD free with the new October issue of the Railway Magazine and filmed at the Great Central Railway.

    On this week’s 75th anniversary of the start of WW2, let’s not forget the words of Winston Churchill, as victory neared, about the “grim determination, unwavering courage and constant resourcefulness of the railwaymen of all ranks” – without whom the war could not have been won. This great story of heroism in my

Here, without comment, is a lovely recent review of Steaming to Victory on Amazon:http://amzn.to/1gTNP3B 5.0 out of 5 stars A Riveting Read, 9 July 2014 By Imelda “Imelda” (a village in Berkshire) – See all my reviews Verified Purchase(What is this?) This review is from: Steaming to Victory: How Britain’s Railways Won the War (Kindle Edition) How I loved this

Filming this week with Michael Portillo for his new BBC2 series of Great British Railway Journeys, to be screened in the spring. We’re at Knottingley in Yorkshire here, where we took one of the very rare trains from Leeds to Goole http://bit.ly/1tlZEPZ

“Fresh and accessible. Make you feel you were there”. Another nice review – from the  railways and war commemorative issue of the Railway Magazine – Britain’s best-selling railway publication

Today, the Cotswolds village of Adlestrop was celebrating 100 years since the poet Edward Thomas’s train stopped at the tiny station there, inspiring him to write one of the most loved poems in the English language It was a special period in time – and here’s what I wrote about it in my book On

A nice review of Steaming to Victory from ‘Frost’ magazine. Here’s what it says: My grandfather was a railway man for years. It left him with a lifelong love of the railway. He was also in the RAF during World War II, which veers off topic from this book, although the obvious love and respect

As the Queen, and President Obama commemorate this week the heroes of the D-Day invasion, which helped bring WW2 to an end, it should not be forgotten that some of the greatest heroes of D-Day were not on the Normandy beaches, but on Britain’s railways as they prepared for the invasion. Here’s the story of