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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.

My day with Winston Churchill – 50 years on. The National Railway Museum in York have put me and my schoolboy memories in a new exhibition about Churchill’s final journey, opening this Friday, January 30.  Here’s one of the images of me at the time, along with my Box Brownie pictures of the day (not […]

Amid the row over inaccuracies in the TV series Broadchurch, the movies don’t do it much better. I’ve just seen Testament of Youth, the autobiographical account of a group of friends in the run-up to and during World War One. How come then, that in 1914 the star Alicia Vikander is seen on a train […]

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 […]