The Trains Now Departed is tops on Amazon – with all 5* reviews. And with lovely display in my local bookshops

I’ve read and reviewed plenty of books about lost lines, sometimes focusing on their days in active service, sometimes looking at their subsequent usage as footpaths, cycle ways or whatever, or their derelict remains. I’ve also read and reviewed books about lost railway architecture and former named express trains. This book covers all of those aspects to some extent, but also other things, at least some of which have been covered elsewhere.Here, there is a chapter on dining cars – a relatively recent loss, although the author notes that some train operators, particularly First Great Western, still operate them. To be honest, I rarely used them in any form – standard or Pullman, though I do remember travelling on the Blue Pullman for some part of the journey between Paddington and Bristol. I can’t remember if I travelled alone or with a family member, or whether we used the Blue Pullman for both outward and return journeys, but I definitely used the service.

Another chapter is devoted to British seaside holidays. The peak for the railways was in the fifties, after which traffic gradually switcched to the roads until the onset of package airline traffic, which killed the traditional British seaside holidays. This chapter discusses Blackpool in particular but other places too.

Experimental and one-off locomotives also get a chapter. I’ve read about most of these elsewhere, but not the massively unsuccessful Leader class. I’d heard of it, but not read anything that stuck in the mind.

Ghost trains (more accurately called parliamentary trains) also get a chapter. The author selected the service from Leeds to Goole via Pontefract, a route now served by buses.

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Bought for my rail enthusiast husband who is delighted and says it is ‘Brilliant’

excellent read