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Review
‘Fascinating archival document…The bygone era of travel by steam train is brought to life’ (Daily Telegraph )
‘This smart book will be of fascination to 21st century eyes. It looks and reads as though it was part of the original 1940s series. Recommended.’ (Steam Railway )
‘An entertaining and useful book’ (Railways Illustrated )
‘This delightful book will remind today’s traveller of the greatest pleasures that were had in the golden age of rail travel’ (Avanti magazine )
‘This smart book will be of fascination to 21st century eyes. It looks and reads as though it was part of the original 1940s series. Recommended.’ (Steam Railway )
‘An entertaining and useful book’ (Railways Illustrated )
‘This delightful book will remind today’s traveller of the greatest pleasures that were had in the golden age of rail travel’ (Avanti magazine )
Product Description
Back in 1947 someone called S.N. Pike – we know nothing more about him – published three little pamphlets, each mapping in forensic detail one of Britain’s main line rail routes. Now Aurum reissues all three in one handsome volume – adding a fourth in the same style to complete the set. Pike produced booklets on the LNER (the East Coast main line), the LMS (West Coast main line) and the Southern Railway network the Brighton line and all its ramifications) – but for some reason he never got around to doing one on the Great Western (the route from Paddington to Devon and Cornwall). What subsequently became of S.N. Pike we don’t know. But now Aurum completes the set, to make one nostalgic guide to Britain’s railways as they were just after the War. The books are full of period interest – the East Coast line, for example, still goes past Alexandra Park racecourse, sees a tangle of colliery sidings all the way up through Yorkshire, and passes 20 places where “GPO mail bag catching nets” are erected close to the rails”. When today’s high speed trains swish to Paris so fast that the landscape beyond is a blur, this delightful book reminds you what once could be seen on a long railway journey.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
My father bought the three original booklets, which were self-published paperbacks, in the late 1940's when they first came out. I found them fascinating when I first read them in the 1960's, and equally fascinating now. It should be remembered that they were produced as a personal venture by one man, S.N. Pike, and that all the maps are hand drawn. Given the amount of work and research this would have entailed, the quality is remarkable, as is the level of detail, and it is therefore not surprising that only selected routes are covered. However, half a loaf is much better than none, as there has been nothing remotely equivalent to these booklets since they were written. So, kudos to the publishers for reprinting them in a single hardback volume (much more hard-wearing than the originals!), and for their enterprise in producing the missing section on the GWR (Pike presumably died before he could write this); it would have been nice for it to include the route to Cardiff and Swansea, but you can't have everything. The new GWR section is a worthy effort, though to me it lacks some of the additional insights and related material that Pike included; but again, it is definitely better to have it than not. The cover picture is cleverly adapted from that on the original "Southern Railway" volume, which again helps the period feel. For information, the routes covered are: Kings Cross to Edinburgh via York; Waterloo to Portsmouth, Weymouth, Exeter, Plymouth and Ilfracombe; St Pancras to Derby, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds; Euston to Crewe and Liverpool; Paddington to Penzance and Bristol. Some sections are of course no longer extant.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A delightful bit of rail nostalgia combining Stuart Pike's three look-out-of-the-window guides and a fourth that he never got round to publishing. Not a new idea because I have a 1928 book published by GWR in 1924 for a Paddington to Penzance journey and a 78 page King's Cross to Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen book published by LNER in 1939. Both of these, though, are really guides to the geography and places along the route. Pike took the idea further by combining the landscape comments with a lot of technical information: speeds; gradients; mileage; journey times; cuttings; tunnels; water troughs: speed restrictions and more.
Pike, in the Author's Note for his third booklet, mentions a forthcoming GWR one covering Paddington to Penzance and Bristol. It was never published but is in the book through the research by Matt Thompson and route maps created by Reg Piggott. Both used rail information from 1947. The maps, being newly created look marvelous and it's a pity that Pike's from decades ago are slightly rough in comparison. Incidentally the page numbers are missing from the LMS booklet (Euston to Liverpool and St Pancras to Manchester, Nottingham and Leeds).
You can still travel, by rail, along the routes in the book but so much has changed since just after the war years, especially the disappearance of so many minor stations. One thing that hasn't are the roads that go under or over the tracks, especially in country areas and these might be the only thing that has remained constant. I recently spent a pleasant hour or so following the route from Waterloo to Southampton on Southern using the maps in the book and the 'AA Close-up Britain atlas'.
'Mile by mile' is the ideal title for the armchair rail fan capturing the feel of the railways when they really meant something to the country.
>>>LOOK AT SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
Pike, in the Author's Note for his third booklet, mentions a forthcoming GWR one covering Paddington to Penzance and Bristol. It was never published but is in the book through the research by Matt Thompson and route maps created by Reg Piggott. Both used rail information from 1947. The maps, being newly created look marvelous and it's a pity that Pike's from decades ago are slightly rough in comparison. Incidentally the page numbers are missing from the LMS booklet (Euston to Liverpool and St Pancras to Manchester, Nottingham and Leeds).
You can still travel, by rail, along the routes in the book but so much has changed since just after the war years, especially the disappearance of so many minor stations. One thing that hasn't are the roads that go under or over the tracks, especially in country areas and these might be the only thing that has remained constant. I recently spent a pleasant hour or so following the route from Waterloo to Southampton on Southern using the maps in the book and the 'AA Close-up Britain atlas'.
'Mile by mile' is the ideal title for the armchair rail fan capturing the feel of the railways when they really meant something to the country.
>>>LOOK AT SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Nothing much more to add to other reviews, the book does have a rather a limited amount of lines.
Unfortunatly the official books used to base these books on, "BR's Sectional Appendixes" cost a small fortune as quite a number were issued.
There is a site though that has all the appendixes from 1960 to look at, (just before the Beeching Axe)
Simply put in your favourite search engine, "british railways 1960", and the site will come up.
The modern versions are also available too in map format .....
go to Network Rails website, and type in the search field in the top right hand corner ...
"Track and route mileage, Permissible line speeds"
This will give you the actual maps todays drivers are given.
Unfortunatly the official books used to base these books on, "BR's Sectional Appendixes" cost a small fortune as quite a number were issued.
There is a site though that has all the appendixes from 1960 to look at, (just before the Beeching Axe)
Simply put in your favourite search engine, "british railways 1960", and the site will come up.
The modern versions are also available too in map format .....
go to Network Rails website, and type in the search field in the top right hand corner ...
"Track and route mileage, Permissible line speeds"
This will give you the actual maps todays drivers are given.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Magic miles
A fascinating look at the railways as they were. Great to see a reprint of this valuable title and to have the GWR added to complete the Big Four coverage. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Oakwell
YOU COULD WELL BE DISAPPOINTED
If you are thinking of buying this to revive memories of someone's childhood, say 50 years ago - BEWARE. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Roger
Mile by Mile by S.N. Pike
As a long time Raiwaly Enthusiast (since aprox 1943) I purchased all three of these pamphlets when first published. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Gresley
Mile by Mile on Britain's Railways: The LNER, LMS, GWR and Southern...
Mile by Mile on Britain's Railways: The LNER, LMS, GWR and Southern Railway in 1947, worked for my use, and may be useful for studying the rail network pre-Beeching. Read more
Published 4 months ago by D. Avery
disappointing
this book is very disappointing, and has a very misleading title. It only covers main lines from Kings Cross to Edinburgh; Waterloo to the south west; Euston to Liverpool; St. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Bobsc
Nice and nostalgic
Nice and nostalgic but I was looking for more details on old stations and halts that arent on the map. Read more
Published 5 months ago by 31001
lovely book, historically significant . . .
This is a delightful little book. Producing a route map like this has been done in other ways and places but this looks like it might have been one of the first. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ariadne
Know more about your train journey.
Although this publication first appeared in the late 1940's it is still accurate today in most areas. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. Michael Peter Oliver
Full steam ahead !
Hi for all you railway buffs out there this is a must , great book and super to take with you on these routes, also very good value from Amazon as compared to say the Daily... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Neil
Not what I thought
The difficulty in buying over the internet is the inability to examine unfamiliar books in detail. This book did not have the content I was expecting and it has been returned.
Published 8 months ago by TCH
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