January 1, 1970

The train was romanticised in countless works of art. These include the poem ‘This is the Night Mail’ by W.H. Auden, which demonstrates that the rail network was not only used to transport people. In film the influence of the train can be seen in Strangers on a Train and Brief Encounter. And in literature, the huge success of Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit, Thomas the Tank Engine by the Rev. W. Awdry and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling demonstrates Britain’s enduring fondness for rail travel.