THE ARCHITECTURE THE RAILWAYS BUILT

THE most enduring parts of railway history in day-to-day view are its buildings and civil engineering, yet most of us enthusiasts tend to focus our eyes on locomotives or rolling stock.

Perhaps for good reason: trains are fleeting beasts and we may feel lucky to catch them in a moment; yet buildings, we often pass by. We presume they’ll always be there: they are literally part of our landscape.

However, as an enthusiast and hands-on conserver of architecture and design heritage, I find myself increasingly studying the glories, quirks and rationale behind our railways’ buildings and structures. They have stories just as fascinating as the mechanical marvels that run beside, inside, on or between them. They are the places where railway principles meet those of the rest of the world.

I’ve always enjoyed historical research and listening to architecture experts give context, so