Monthly Archives: October 2016

Here’s a post for halloween…there is quite a body of literature that explores the steam engine and its association with the supernatural. The sound, fire, and fury, of the engine would certainly have terrified anyone unaccustomed to the sights and … Continue reading →

Luckily, both Lewitt and Him, (see post below), were able to come to Britain before the advent of WW2… They became famous, in Britain, for their illustrations to the story by Diana Ross of The Little Red Engine. The first … Continue reading →

Here are some pictures, by the Polish design duo Jan Lewitt and George Him, for a children’s book from the end of the 1930s. There are Polish and English versions of this book, and later editions with different illustrations. My … Continue reading →

I’ve just purchased this book…it’s about how, during the 19C, people learnt to be passengers on the railway…this wasn’t without a struggle. Indeed, I could just as easily have purchased a book about how the prospect of railway travel induced … Continue reading →

Virgin have announced that they received 15 000 applications for the 78 train driver jobs on the new East Coast main line…

Here is a lovely Swiss travel poster, for the Bellevue Hotel, from 1913. I love the flat colour and geometric symplification of the tweed sports coat and breeches. That comes from Ludwig Hohlwein’s designs from a bit earlier, and from … Continue reading →