The Railways - Nation, Network and People, by Simon Bradley,
is well-written, entertaining and informative. I’m only on page 112, so I’ve
still got another 500 to go but its already made quite an impression. At a few pages
at a time, it should keep me amused for some time to come.
Here’s a taster [almost literally] on the demise of smoking
on trains [p.111]. “Now, even the most lovingly accurate re-creation on the
country’s preserved railways cannot bring back the sour smell of wet tobacco
ash, smeared thinly in solution with other dirt over the linoleum flooring of a
crowded second-class carriage on a rainy winter’s day; nor the grey-black
deposit of carbonised tobacco particles inadvertently picked up when the
shoulders of coats and jackets rubbed against the tainted condensation on
single-glazed carriage windows”.
Certainly brings it all back for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment