Source: Wikimedia Commons
In 1955 the railway was controlled by thousands of men in small buildings beside the track, each pulling a frame of heavy levers that moved signals and points…
Source: Wikimedia Commons
In 1960 the weather was measured by people. Somebody walked out to a white wooden box on legs every hour of every day, read four thermometers, emptied a…
The governing fact is adhesion. Steel on steel produces very little grip, which is efficient on the level and useless on a slope - so the route must be flattened…
A railway looks like the most rigid thing in the landscape: steel lines running dead straight to the horizon, apparently welded to the earth. The reality underneath is the opposite,…
Source: Wikipedia
In an age of cramped flights and rushing from place to place, there is something deeply romantic about the great long-distance train journey. To board a train and roll…