A fascinating collection of bizarre but true stories from nearly 200
years of railway history.
Right from the very start, when George Stephenson's famous Rocket
knocked over and killed a government minister at the opening of the
Liverpool to Manchester line in 1830, the world's railways have given
rise to plenty of intriguing stories. In this fascinating book, revised
and updated with a new selection of tales, railway buff Tom Quinn
explores the more bizarre side of train travel, featuring weird weather
conditions, audacious robberies, hair-raising accidents, vanishing
passengers, an infestation of maggots and a mysterious missing mummy.
From the dawn of rail travel, when speeds of 15mph were considered
dangerous to health and people mistook engines for fire-breathing
demons, through the Victorian heyday of royal trains and seaside
specials to today's more prosaic leaves on the line, this whistlestop
tour through railways' long and storied history is the perfect gift for
armchair travellers, history fans and trainspotters.
Word count: 60,000
