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.

August 2, 1980 – the day I saw my first High Speed Train. I can well recall that day, three months after I’d started spotting. We were on our way to Newquay for a family holiday. We didn’t have a car

Whether Metroland breakfasts or picnics on the go, the railways have transformed how we eat forever, finds Emma Hughes

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

The appeal of being lulled to sleep as a sleeper train rattles homewards is synonymous with adventure and romance, says Mary Miers