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JUST three weeks ago, Penguin Random House published my latest book The Trains Now Departed: Sixteen Excursions into Lost Delights of Britain’s Railways. There’s been a lovely response from the national media, including extracts published by the ‘Daily Telegraph’, the ‘Independent’ and ‘i’ newspapers – and I’ve done many interviews on the BBC. And as […]

I never thought my writing about railways would be compared to a novel – let alone magical realism. But here’s a nice spread based on my new book The Trains Now Departed from the ‘Western Morning News’ newspaper. See the Lynton & Barnstaple article on the right

I was struck, travelling from Liverpool Street today into Essex how much of our railway heritage is still falling into ruin. My picture here is of the old Burnham on Crouch station on the line to Southminster, used by London commuters every day. I didn’t write about it in my chapter on lost heritage in

I sometimes worry about e-readers. Are they replacing books? Will books go the same way as old branch lines? What about the sensuous feel of a book, with its lovely illustrations and all the tactile qualities that go with it? Well, my latest book is currently #No 1 Bestseller on amazon.co.uk in Kindle format. I

Just returned from Singapore and Hong Kong, where I gave a series of talks on the Greatest Train Journeys of the World, as well as signing copies of my newest book, The Trains Now Departed. It’s marvellous how the fondness for railway heritage extends round the world…

Three of my books The Trains Now Departed, Steaming to Victory and On the Slow Train Again all ranked in Amazon Top 25 in Railway History today – including #No 1 Bestseller. Keeps an author happy… http://amzn.to/1s9OcaN

“Guides you through a lost world – The nostalgia of tomorrow.” A lovely review of my book from Philip Haigh, senior commentator in the current issue of Rail magazine – Britain’s best-selling modern railways publication:

My article in the Daily Telegraph based on my chapter on the great days of British express trains from my new book The Trains Now Departed: Sixteen Excursions into the Lost Delights of Britain’s Railways – just published http://bit.ly/1ET6vGT

IT’S finally publication week for my new book The Trains Now Departed, out on Thursday May 7 – when the whistle blows for departure on a project close to my heart that has lasted for three years – a mixture of hard work and intense pleasure. Publication week is a moment of great trepidation for

IT’S sometimes hard to feel sympathetic to politicians, but I’m sharing some of their jitters this week since my newest book, The Trains Now Departed: Sixteeen Excursions into the Lost Delights of Britain’s Railways, is published on General Election day, May 7. I didn’t choose the day – the choice was made by my publishers Penguin

IS RAILWAY enthusiasm becoming respectable at last? Here’s an extract from the introduction to my new book The Trains Now Departed, out on May 7: ‘AND why not, indeed? This sense of what the railways of the past signify to us has been heightened recently by the renaissance of railway enthusiasm. Gone are the days

With the 70th anniversary of VE Day coming up on May 8, I’m thinking of the heroes and heroines of the Home Front who I interviewed for my recent book Steaming to Victory. Here’s what I wrote in the book of the sacrifice of the people who kept the railways running in wartime… ‘CERTAINLY, after

  WHAT are the best train journeys in Britain? I’ve been invited to Singapore and Hong Kong next month to give some talks in both cities about ‘The Best of British Rail Travel’ to coincide with the publication on my new book ‘The Trains Now Departed: Sixteen Excursions into the Lost Delights of Britain’s Railways’.

  JUST received the first copy of my new book  ‘The Trains Now Departed’ fresh off the press, ready for publication on May 7. How lovely to have this crisply printed hardback with its lovely cover in my hands. Newborn babies have their own special smell – and so do newly printed books. Especially if

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