The Trains Now Departed: Sixteen Excursions into the Lost Delights of Britain's Railways

by Michael Williams

SOMETIMES you come across a lofty railway viaduct, marooned in the middle of a remote country landscape. Or a crumbling platform from some once-bustling junction buried under the buddleia. If you are lucky you might be able to follow some rusting tracks, or explore an old tunnel leading to…well, who knows where? Listen hard. Is that the wind in the undergrowth? Or the spectre of a train from a golden era of the past panting up the embankment?These are the ghosts of The Trains Now Departed. They are the railway lines, and services that ran on them that have disappeared and gone forever. Our lost legacy includes lines prematurely axed, often with a gripping and colourful tale of their own, as well as marvels of locomotive engineering sent to the scrapyard, and grand termini felled by the wrecker's ball. Then there are the lost delights of train travel, such as haute cuisine in the dining car, the grand expresses with their evocative names, and continental boat trains to romantic far-off places.The Trains Now Departed tells the stories of some of the most fascinating lost trains of Britain, vividly evoking the glories of a bygone age. In his personal odyssey around Britain Michael Williams tells the tales of the pioneers who built the tracks, the yarns of the men and women who operated them and the colourful trains that ran on them. It is a journey into the soul of our railways, summoning up a magic which, although mired in time, is fortunately not lost for ever.THIS EDITION REVISED AND UPDATED TO INCLUDE MAPS.

Genres: History, Trains, Railways, Travel, Nonfiction, Transport

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2015

About the author

Michael Williams writes widely on railways for many publications, including the Daily Mail, The Independent, the Independent on Sunday, the New Statesman, The Oldie and the railway specialist press. He is a veteran Fleet Street journalist, having held many senior positions, including Deputy Editor of the Independent on Sunday, Executive Editor of the Independent and Head of News at The Sunday Times. He is currently Senior Lecturer in the School of Journalism, Media and Communication at the University of Central Lancashire. He commutes regularly by train on the 440-mile return journey between his home in London's Camden Town and his office at Preston in Lancashire.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Vivid and readable account of various now defunct British train routes. Look, either this interests you or it doesn't.

[Penny]

Very enjoyable indeed - Williams delves into the history of 16 lines that are long lost, some due to Dr Beeching but others that were closed well before or well after his axe fell.
Williams has a vivid imagination, a massive love of trains and a lot of knowledge. The combination makes for a really good book - I love the way he isn't frightened to tell us when he gets all misty eyed and nostalgic.
I've walked and explored some of these ghost lines and having read this book I would like to explore further.
I would also love to live in a converted station house next to lines that are no longer in use - but that's another story.............

[Stephen Bishop]

An enjoyable read although having a map of the UK to hand (or better, some form of map in the book itself) would greatly enhance the feeling of where the action was actually taking place! This is especially the case as many of the lines that were featured lay, or ran through, parts of the country off the beaten track. The current status of these old railway routes (as of the date of writing the book) was a nice way of concluding each relevant section especially as some of them were either possibly to be revived or now in active use as foot/cycle paths.

[Anthony Peter]

Engaging armchair travel (of re-imagined train journeys) combined with social and industrial history, elegy, nostalgia, technical detail, eulogy, architecture and, I thought, a rather fine reader-friendly style.

I am not, and never have been, a ‘gricer’, but one of my Desert Island discs is almost certainly, ‘The Slow Train’ by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTFcN...). Michael Williams references this song a couple of times in his ‘Sixteen Excursions into the Lost Delights of Britain’s Railways’, but he is not prone to such shameless pastoral and wistful epicedia very often, preferring to give an accurate account of the varying fortunes of the lines that no longer exist, either because they were really non-starters in the first place or because Beeching put an end to them.

He is specially good in praising the engineers and the navvies who laboured to construct these lines. He singles out for special admiration the hardihood of those who built the Stainmore line over the Pennines from Penrith to Darlington that ran ‘through the harsh landscapes of Cumberland, Westmorland and Durham… the loftiest and most dramatic main line in England.’ Then there was the visionary Liverpool Overhead Railway, or Dockers’ Umbrella, that established that railways did not have to run on the ground, and was a service used by all classes of Liverpudlians. It was a commercial success, unlike the ‘wacky world of the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway, Britain’s most eccentric line, run by railway history’s dottiest proprietor’, Colonel Holman Fred Stephens, who ‘planned, built and collected a whole portfolio of failing small branch lines around the country and ran them with evangelistic fervour from a terraced house in Tonbridge, Kent.’

As well as the lost lines, Williams considers other lost aspects of the railways: the boat train; the Metroland dining car experience and silver service dining in general, including the kippers-for-breakfast that Lord Olivier so cherished on the Brighton to London train; the glamour of the named express trains – the Cornish Riviera Express and the Flying Scotsman, the Atlantic Coast Express and the Broadsman – oh! where are they now?; ‘ghost’ services; the great steam locomotives themselves that hauled their trains of carriages, and the demise of great station buildings such as the Euston Arch, Birmingham Snow Hill and Birkenhead Woodside. And there is a magnificent chapter on the Seaside Specials.

Well, you get the idea. For me, who can just about remember steam trains in Waterloo, this was a thoroughly entertaining piece of lyrical, informative historical romance about a much longed-for age that has passed away. Mind you, would I really have wanted to travel on the ‘Slow, Mouldy and Jolting’ from Stratford or on a ‘Heath Robinson special’ on that Shropshire and Montgomeryshire failure of a line, with timetables that were merely notional? Probably not, if I were wanting actually to get somewhere specific at a specific time, but, in retirement, to while away the hours on – oh yes!

[Kriegslok]

I think this is one of those books that people probably buy for people who know the recipient has an interest in railways. I think it is also a book written with a wider audience in mind than the "enthusiast". It's a sort of specialist subject all things to all people book.

The idea behind the book isn't bad. It sets out to rediscover some of the lost greats of the railway age. A combination of laissez-faire attitudes towards economic growth and grandiose pretensions of the pioneer companies saw a chaotic development of infrastructure in the UK. There followed a road cult and more of the same laissez-fairism together with a desperate and poorly thought through plan to retain some sort of functioning rail network. The end result was the loss of much that would today have fulfilled a useful function from main lines, to cross country routes and strategic branch lines and city centre terminus's, all erased and turned into car parks and shopping centres.

This book attempts to retrace some of what was lost and tell its history. In doing this the book is probably partially successful. Each chapter takes a lost line or theme and deals with it, trying to present a history and explanation of its demise and a summary of what remains to be seen. I found some chapters more interesting than others and this will probably vary according to the subjectivity of the reader. I found the chapter on the Stainmore line among the more interesting. Some of the intrigues and dirty politics that led to the demise of lines, loss of stations and great terminuses, and loss of perfectly servicable motivepower, are aired well here and deservedly.
My main gripe, and this is probably personal is the writing stykle which is that sort of matey jovial style. The author also seems to feel the need to introduce various "errors" to show he's not a trainspotter or wrong sort of anorak. So for me a generally interesting read spolit by a style I found often grating.

[Igenlode Wordsmith]

I suspect this is the sort of book given to railway enthusiasts by people who don't know anything about railways but think it would make a good present. I found the writing style to be distinctly annoying. Williams is the sort of writer who will never let the opportunity for a good cliché pass him by, and likes to make would-be matey jokes about not knowing the difference between a locomotive and a train (presumably in order to appeal to people who genuinely don't, and feel excluded by such esoterica). Judging by the afterword, he is aiming consciously at a 'middlebrow' market; it's a pity that his chosen method of doing so is to adopt patronising prose ("Not some slow rusty puffer thus, crawling over weed-grown rails on a run-down timetable") and fourth-wall-breaking asides ("But hold on a moment — let's freeze-frame the nostalgia")

There are some interesting details, and some chapters grate less than others (possibly those where I was less familiar with the subject matter, e.g. the Liverpool Overhead Railway). But overall this comes across as an anthology of populist newspaper columns rather than a book, and one that holds nothing of the genuine literary talent and passionate interest and understanding of, say, an L.T.C.Rolt — writers who can inform without talking down, and describe without heaping worn-out adjectives onto every sentence. According to the front cover accolades, Michael Portillo described the volume as providing 'nostalgic journeys' in 'elegant prose'... has he actually read it?

I'm pretty sure this was an unsolicited present, possibly purchased via the Guardian's book scheme. At any rate, it's not one I plan to keep.

[Edit: apparently Michael Williams is "a veteran Fleet Street journalist". That's exactly what this reads like.)

[Thomas Wyndham]

I really love this audiobook. The first few chapters in, on pruned railways, and forgotten practices, had me moved me to tears with nostalgia for railways long gone even before I was born. The author paints a wonderful picture of days gone by, where jobs were passed down the generations like family heirlooms, and in the style and romance of express trains, a combination of the finest hotels and restaurants, thundering through the landscape. The reader is perfect for this book as well, coming across like a misty eyed grandfather, telling stories about how things were better back in his day. However, as the chapters approached the teens, I started to notice more and more, complaints about the railways today, and the society that they serve. While I love the author’s love of the past, and agree that not all trains should be about the destination, but for enjoying the journey, I don’t think we can forget that the railway serves a purpose, the purpose is changing with the society they find themselves in, and cannot stay put in the idealised nostalgia we remember them so fondly in. All in all however, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and hope to enjoy more from this author. It was clearly written with passion, and while we may disagree about some things, I certainly agree with his passion.

[Colin]

A pleasant stopping-train paced meander around some of the lost railways of Britain. Michael Williams is a knowledgeable and entertaining guide. If he sometimes verges on rose-tinted spectacles nostalgia, he tempers it with equal doses of harsh reality. Many of the lines lost at the time of the Beeching Axe in the early Sixties were hopelessly uneconomic and had been for years, victims of their developers’ unrealistic expectations during the late-Victorian railway boom. The chapter on the notoriously dreadful Shropshire and Montgomeryshire line is a salutary tale of underinvestment, pipe dream economic planning, eccentric management and poorly maintained equipment and infrastructure. Williams looks at great lost stations as well as closed lines and at the campaigns (of varying success) launched to defend services against closure.

[Morag Forbes]

This was an interesting book, especially as a former railway employee, from a historical and travel perspective as it’s all about railway routes and buildings that don’t exist anymore (other than preserved relics). I learnt about a lot of railway history I didn’t know about and could imagine the fabulous old routes and the people who travelled them. However it was more technical than I expected. There was bit much about the specific types of trains, carriages and track with the result it was quite a slow read.

[Stuart Nottingham]

The Train Now Departed

An excellently written book comprising different stories, each with very pictorial style. I own many railway books, and regard this as one of the best. Thoroughly recommended.

[Linda Amos]

Thoroughly enjoyed the quirkiness of the British railways. Snippets of history and human stories make the stories come alive, along with the power plays of those who ran them. The excursions also give us an idea of just how much is left of these railways if you know where to look.

[Trainspotter_me]

An interesting and varied read. So much more than simply a selection of descriptions of closed railway lines. A few more pictures and more detailed maps would have added to the book, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

[Skord]

One of those little books I borrowed for an undemanding Saturday teatime read but which turned out to be much better than it seemed. Shows that this kind of book doesn't have to be just saccharine reminiscences or listmaking.

[James Tidd]

The author tells stories of some of the most fascinating lost trains of Britain. The lost legacies include lines prematurely axed, such as the Waverley, as well as marvels of locomotive engineering sent to Barry Island scrapyard, and grand termini felled by the wrecker's ball, such as Blackpool Central, Birmingham Snow Hill and somewhat confusingly Blackpool Central. Also, there are the last delights of train travel, such as haute cuisine in dining cars and the boat trains.

[Les Chatfield]

Entertainingly nostalgics

A good read for everyone not just the railway fanatic (although they will enjoy this too)
I recommend this book

[David Ellcock]

Entertaining if a bit “blue passport”, “everything was better in the old days,” if that makes sense?

[Alina Cristina]

Trains are cool

[Mick Hitchman]

Interesting stories but gets repetitive. Best read in small chunks.

[Jarmo Niinisalo]

Overly romanticized musings on defunct railways, jam-packed with flowery phrases.

[Nick]

Elegiac. A wistful account of lost railways and stupidly demolished stations. Really could have done with some photos. Emotionally draining.

[Rhiannon Grant]

Rather like a slow train, this book takes a rambling route through various bits of history and scenery, allowing the reader to glimpse characters who created and destroyed railways.

[Mark]

Hi best yet. Outstanding assessment.

[Andrew Purvis]

Delightful, utterly, I'll read it many times

[Paul]

There was this steam train. It was slow, unreliable, uncomfortable and no one used it. Then the lizardpeople shut the train down purely to spite everyone. A vicar chained himself to the track in a valiant effort to save the train by blocking its passage (not sure how that works) but in the end the train ran no more. This story repeats itself a dozen times. To be fair to the author he does mention the negatives of the old rail network as well but in the end it's a big nostalgia (?) trip. Although it all happened too long ago for it to really be nostalgia. Just a timeless (ha!) general unease caused by the changing world.

I was hoping for some more history and technical details and fewer quirky vignettes. I hope the author enjoyed his train journeys during which, if you were to believe him, he wrote this book. I certainly enjoy my train holidays. This book however, as delightfully whimsical as it is, is not what I was after and unless you have a notebook full of train numbers it might not be for you either.

[Jon Saul]

Needed maps and the odd illustration

[Rachel Bowlin]

For the train lovers. It was a bit of a struggle to finish. I thought each chapter would focus on one particular line, but it was more 'themed.'