The railway revolution opened up new destinations, expanded our culinary horizons and dramatically improved trade. Jonathan Self takes us on a whistle-stop tour of ‘railway mania’

Although some perceived the advent of the locomotive as a threat to the countryside, by allowing artists a quick and easy way to travel, it broadened their choice of painting horizons, discovers Carla Passino

TONY STREETER looks at how - and why - the capital’s major rail routes arrive into different termini to form a ring around the central London area

The myriad tracks and carriages of the British rail network have proved fruitful inspiration for generations of writers, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee

TIM DUNN takes us on a journey through cinematic history - with the railway as the ultimate muse

We’re heading into a momentous year for railway preservation as the Talyllyn Railway marks 75 years since it was saved from almost certain extinction to become the first heritage railway. But how did the concept of railway preservation emerge and develop? MARK PEARCE digs deeper.