“The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before.”
― G.K. Chesterton
“The train bore me away, through the monstrous scenery of slag-heaps, chimneys, piled scrap-iron, foul canals, paths of cindery mud criss-crossed by the prints of clogs.”
― George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier
“Yes. I remember Adlestrop—
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.”
– Edward Thomas, Adlestrop
“The aristocrats, if such they could be called, generally hated the whole concept of the train on the basis that it would encourage the lower classes to move about and not always be available.”
― Terry Pratchett, Raising Steam
“I had my own compartment – plenty of space, plenty of provisions, the grapes, cookies, chocolates and tea that made being on the Trans-Siberian like a luxurious form of convalescence.”
― Paul Theroux, Riding the Iron Rooster
“Was it worth keeping the Halt open,
We thought as we looked at the sky
Red through the spread of the cedar-tree,
With the evening train gone by?”
– John Betjeman, Dilton Marsh Halt
“Railways, like Daleks, have difficulties in getting up hills.”
― Ian Marchant, Parallel Lines: Or, Journeys on the Railway of Dreams
“This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the girl next door.”
– WH Auden, Night Mail
“Pardon Me boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?”
― Mack Gordon, Chattanooga Choo Choo
“For many country folk, the railway was Paris.”
– Catherine Hewitt, Renoir’s Dancer: The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon
“Lord, that Hollywood train, forever coming round the bend!”
― James Baldwin, The Devil Finds Work:
Gaily into Ruislip Gardens
Runs the red electric train,
With a thousand Ta’s and Pardon’s
Daintily alights Elaine
– John Betjeman, Middlesex
2025 Railway 200 – the 200th anniversary of the modern railway
THE next play on stage at the Ashley Road Studio Theatre in Salisbury is an English version of Nikolai Gogol’s classic The Government Inspector, from 13th to 18th October. The adaptation, by Philip Goulding, is sub-titled A Little Local Difficulty, and will be directed by the writer’s brother George, a Studio stalwart.