Welcome to the glamorous world of Named Expresses
FOR any enthusiast who fell in love with railways during the 1950s and early ’60s, named expresses will almost certainly hold a fascination. Children’s picture books in that era contained paintings and other colourful illustrations of famous trains such as ‘The Royal Scot’ and the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ steaming through idyllic, sun-kissed countryside.
On some main lines, it was possible to witness a procession of headboards bearing names that hinted at romantic and glamorous far-off destinations, such as the ‘Golden Arrow’ and the ‘Cornish Riviera’.
It was an exciting time to be a rail enthusiast and a rewarding time to be a passenger, for it was clear that the railways were going out of their way to add a touch of quality to an otherwise austere post-war scene.
This encyclopaedia is a fully revised, updated and enlarged version of a directory that appeared in The Railway Magazine as a four-part series over the winter of 2011/12 (issues 1,327, 1,329, 1,330 and 1,331). It contains numerous new photographs and several additional minor train names it was not possible to include in the previous series due to lack of space.
It is thus by far and away the most comprehensive directory of British titled trains ever published. The
