This month marks 200 years of passenger railways and a good book is a train journey essential as far as we’re concerned. Here are a few page turners to get you on your way…
The Railway Children
Edith Nesbit’s Edwardian novel is a classic for a reason. The tale of three children, moved from London after their father is imprisoned for spying, who wave at train passengers, is worth a revisit if you read it as a child or discovering if not.
The Necropolis Railway
The first of Andrew Martin’s Jim Stringer series, in which the Yorkshire railwayman turned amateur sleuth solves mysteries occurring on various British train lines in the steam-soundtracked early 1900s.
The Kingdom By The Sea
As the Falklands War rumbles on, Paul Theroux circumnavigates Britain’s coast in one of his typically
thoughtful travel books, meeting peculiar characters, walking a lot and often travelling by rail.
These ideas for railway page turners is taken from our September ‘outing’ pages, which focus on days out with trains, from request stops to iconic journeys to walks along disused railways. The illustration is by Colin Elgie.
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