Monthly Archives: July 2013

Spain The engine “black boxes” have revealed that the driver of the derailed express in Spain was on the telephone at the time of the crash. Apparently, he was answering a call from his controller! Switzerland There has been a … Continue reading →

This is a French 19C print from Epinal. It was printed in black and white, with the colour added, by hand, afterwards. Epinal (in the Vosges mountains of Eastern France) was the historic centre for the production of wood-cuts. These … Continue reading →

English Heritage has announced the listing of a number of historic railway signal boxes across the country. That’s great. You can read about the story, here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23451290 and there is a slideshow, here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19464080   This is all good news. … Continue reading →

The tragic train crash in Spain comes soon after the crash in France. Over recent months, there have been crashes on India and China too. In Canada, a freight train exploded! The history of train crashes is almost as long … Continue reading →

In my previous post, I wrote about the prospect of the railway commuter as someone whose behaviour and performance was entirely determined by the timetable of the machine-ensemble and the workplace. Of course the idea of performance is freighted with … Continue reading →

There was an interesting film on BBC TV 4, presented by the detective fiction novelist Andrew Martin, about the relationship between railways and literature. Luckily, many of the books and stories he mentioned have been turned into TV films – … Continue reading →

Mallard is the name of an LNER streamlined A4 engine. It’s famous for having set the world speed record for a steam engine at 126mph in 1938. They are celebrating the 70th anniversary of this amazing achievement at the NRM, … Continue reading →