Author: Paul Atterbury

Publisher: David & Charles Ltd., Brunel House, Forde Close, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 4PU. Tel: 01626 323200

ISBN: 978-0715325681

Pages: 256

Illustrations: 276 coloured & 309 monochrome (inc. sepia)

Date: August 2007

Cover: hardback with dustcover

Size: 286x224mm portrait

Price: £25

Index: excellent

Aimed at the general reading public rather than the enthusiast, this a likely candidate for 'railway book of the year'. It is simply steeped in nostalgia by a man who obviously loves railways - and especially those he remembers in days gone by. The book opens with reference to the Beeching Report and images of communities fighting closures and former railways being torn up. Paul Atterbury then takes the reader on a tour of Britain, region by region, rediscovering what is left of the old routes. He uses current photographs of trackbed and surviving structures, alongside pictures from the past, postcards, railway documents, tickets and promotional brochures to bring to life a lost world.

There are special features along the way such as Pullman trains, the Royal train, boat trains, lost liveries, lost stations, railway works, tunnels, the London Underground, signal boxes, excursion trains, goods wagons, viaducts, railway notices, car trains, engine sheds, narrow gauge lines, private owner wagons, industrial lines, etc. This is one of those books that you will want to keep on the coffee table and dip into from time to time.