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A history of railway travel from improved railway advancements to firsthand passenger encounters.The book looks at rail travel from the passenger's point of view, beginning when a coach drawn by horses, rumbled down the newly laid tracks linking Swansea to Mumbles in 1807 and takes the reader right up to the present day. It was not long after that first service opened in Wales that the first steam passenger trains began to operate. The story broadens out from the first inter-city line connecting Liverpool to Manchester to spread first around Britain and eventually spread across the world. The book paints vivid pictures of how travel seemed to passengers in different countries, drawing on many first-hand accounts. The early days offered little in comfort - third class passengers had to make do with carriages that were simply open trucks. Gradually conditions improved and eventually there was an age of luxury travel epitomised by the famous Orient Express. Every aspect of rail travel is looked at, from tragic tales of fatal accidents to the role of railway travel in films and books. This lively account of the pioneering days and what many regard as the golden age of rail travel will be welcomed by anyone who enjoys taking the train.
About the author
Anthony Burton is a freelance author and broadcaster, who has specialized in industrial and transport history. He has been involved in around a hundred TV documentaries on these subjects, appearing on all the major networks. He has written biographies of some of the leading characters of the early industrial age: Thomas Telford, Richard Trevithick, Joseph Locke and Matthew Boulton, the latter with Jennifer Tann
