Product Description

The true flavour of the glory days of steam is brought to life in this richly illustrated collection of tales and first-hand accounts from passengers and railwaymen across Britain.From the glamorous drivers on the great mainline locomotives to everyday commuters and trainspotting schoolboys, the engaging stories give a real glimpse into the lives of those who lived and worked in the steam era.Hundreds of glorious photographs featuring trains, stations, staff and passengers truly transport the reader back to this lovingly remembered age of transport.Special feature spreads interspersed throughout the book focus on some of the most visually striking aspects of the railways during this time, such as extreme weather, recordbreaking trains and the artworks used to decorate the carriages.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72704 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-26
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
FASCINATING. A cracking read for anyone who remembers when travelling by rail was enjoyable. --The Scottish Sunday Post

Sumptuous photographs but its appeal lies not just in its attractiveness as a publication. Quinn holds out a hand and invites us up onto the footplate, or into the steamy , fuggy warmth of a late-40s waiting room, or in an engine shed with its sharp spell of steam, coal and grease - anywhere the spirit of these locomotives which where living things resides. --South Wales Argus

Bolton Evening News Hundreds of wonderful photographs featuring stations, staff, passengers and trains in glorious colour and black an white, transport the reader back to this lovingly remembered age of transport. --Bolton Evening News

An interesting and detailed look at steam trains throughout the century. An informative and enjoyable read. --Cornwall Today

This well researched and smartly presented 250-page book passes with flying colours. Anybody whose pulse quickens at the thought of that golden era should be delighted to find such a charming book as Memories of Steam under his (or even her) tree this christmas. --Swindon Evening Advertiser

This is a wonderfully nostalgic containing numerous photographs and the recollections of former railway workers and passengers. --Scottish Home and Country

It would make an excellent present for a young railway enthusiast who has outgrown 'Thomas' but is not yet ready for the more extensive text of a standard railway history. --The Railway Magazine

This is a trip full of nostalgia. --Good Book Guide

This is a trip full of nostalgia. --Good Book Guide

...richly illustrated collection. --Steam World magazine

Finely illustrated with many rare photographs it is nostalgia par excellence. --This England magazine

About the Author
Tom Quinn is author of several books on a variety of subjects including railways, fishing, antique collecting and walking, and has written the top-selling Tales of the Old Railwaymen for D&C. He is former editor of The Countryman, current editor of Country Landowner magazine, and also contributes to The Times.

Customer Reviews

Another nostalgic look at the age of steam
The image of the steam locomotive has been transformed (particularly in Britain) from a dirty, smelly beast that many people (train enthusiasts excluded) in the fifties and sixties wanted rid of as quickly as possible into a romantic symbol of a bygone age that seemed so much nicer than the one in which we live. That transformation shows itself in the preservation movement (which now embraces early diesel locomotives as well as their steam predecessors) and in a multitude of nostalgic books including this one.

This excellent book is based on interviews conducted by the author over three decades. In the eighties, he mainly focused on those who were old enough to remember the twenties and thirties, while later interviews necessarily focused on those who remembered the last years of steam. However, the book doesn't read like a series of interviews although there are plenty of quotes taken directly from them. At first glance, the actual format of the book seems to be inspired by Paul Atterbury's recent series (by the same publisher) of nostalgic books about the steam age beginning with Branch line Britain. It is the same size and is divided into themed chapters, each containing plenty of photographs to go with the informative text. When I first saw this book, I wondered if I really need this book as well as Paul's books, but closer inspection shows that this book is really quite different. Quite apart from being based on interviews, this book covers the one area that Paul studiously avoided - the main lines - as well as the branch lines and cross-country routes that Paul clearly prefers (or maybe he just feels that main lines have been covered adequately elsewhere). Also, while Paul's books focus largely on the later years of steam and the aftermath, this book (as already indicated) goes back further.

While this is great nostalgia, there are reminders that the old days were not as wonderful as some would like to imagine. A letter complaining about passenger safety, originally printed in the Lancet in 1857, is reproduced here. Progress has been made on that front, at least. In the feature on timetables, a woman who remembers the old days of Bradshaw's recalls the difficulty of working out the best way of getting from A to B, if there was no obvious direct route. Apparently, people used to challenge each other to see who could find the most efficient route. (With a much smaller network these days, we no longer have that problem. Instead, we have the problem of whether we can get from A to B by train, and if not, is there a bus service that will get us to our destination? Of course, most people solve that problem by using their car instead.)

But mostly, this book like many of its kind, portrays the steam age as a golden age when drivers were appreciated for their skills, when you could travel just about anywhere in Britain by train in reasonable comfort with catering provided on main-line trains as well as at many stations. If you are into steam nostalgia, especially if you enjoy Paul Atterbury's books on the subject, you will love this book too.

A memorable read
To any enthusiast who has lived through the last days of steam, this book does exactly what it says on the cover..! Easy to read as every 2 or 3 pages cover a different topic - with excellent photos, and relevant comments from very many ex-employees etc. Recommended reading..!

More than a book about trains

To enjoy this book you do not need to remember steam engines or have more than a passing interest in railways. My only interest is as a commuter and I was about three years old when British Railways withdrew steam trains but I loved the book.
The Search Inside facility gives you a really good idea of what the book is like, a new theme or aspect every couple of pages and a really good balance of pictures and words. I'm no expert so I can't say how original they would be to someone who knew the topic, but by halfway through even I could spot a 4-6-0 from an 0-4-4 (it's the size of the wheels - medium-sized ones at the front, big ones in the middle, little `uns at the back).
Why is this so enjoyable? It's a lot of things. You can talk about the beauty of the train passing along the coast or through a dramatic valley, but that's not all because the pictures in stations or engine sheds are as absorbing. There's the romance of the steam train but the interviews with retired railwaymen make clear that set alongside this was the hard work for little pay. Undoubtedly a big element is that we see the railways so firmly through the eyes of the people who made the engines run and the passengers who used them. There's no talk of business plans or debates about the pros and cons of nationalisation.
This makes the book a real slice of life, from Victorian times through to the 1960s. It has to be said there's a rose-tinted element to it but it IS made clear that accidents happened, poor people initially had to travel in open-top wagons, the quality of the carriages deteriorated from around 1930 onwards, and so on. But people also took a pride in their work, were proud of what they did, and achieved something more than getting through their e-mail Inbox by the end of the day and getting 30 minutes on Facebook at lunchtime.
Happy wallowing!