- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Phoenix; New edition edition (26 Sep 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575400110
- ISBN-13: 978-0575400115
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 424,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The sight of Britannia 70004 roaring through Burton-on-Trent one summer afternoon in the mid-sixties would have provided a suitable baptism for any youngster on his first trainspotting jaunt. For Nicholas Whittaker it was the beginning of a thirty-year love affair with the railways. Platform Souls is his personal odyssey through the changing world of this most English of pursuits. 'An elegy: for the steam trains already vanishing when Whittaker's hobby began in 1964; for the short-lived diesel age which followed; for an era of near innocence . . . This theme is neatly handled, as is the appeal to the sheer romance of railways, the poetry of trains' TLS
About the Author
Nicholas Whittaker is the author of Platform Souls: The Trainspotter as Twentieth-century Hero, Blue Period: Nots from a Life in the Titillation Trade, Sweet Talk and Toys Were Us. As well as single-handedly writing the 1984 Pontin's brochure, he has contributed to a wide variety of magazines and newspapers, including Company, Arena, Punch, the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and the Express. Nicholas Whittaker lives in north London.
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First Sentence
It was Adrian 'Bolt' Brown who introduced me to trainspotting in that first summer holiday after leaving Christ Church Junior Mixed & Infants. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
It was Adrian 'Bolt' Brown who introduced me to trainspotting in that first summer holiday after leaving Christ Church Junior Mixed & Infants. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the trainspotter fights back!!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Platform Souls: The Train Spotter as Twentieth-century Hero (Paperback)
If you were a trainspotter in the 1970s or 1980s then this is the book for you! It's a nostalgic look back to the changing times of Britain's railways, since the demise of steam. I liked it for this. There's plenty of stuff written on the steam days by those who remember them - but for my generation, who can only remember the diesels and electrics - this book is a welcome read - we can say, 'we were there'! I read the book cover to cover in one evening and couldn't put it down. How far it would appeal to the non-rail minded I am not sure - my wife didn't find it quite so amusing as I did. The best thing about Platform Souls though is its honesty about a hobby that is laughed at but yet enjoyed by so many - the trainspotter fights back!! Read it and see.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An alternative view of the 2nd half of the 20th century,
This review is from: Platform Souls: The Train Spotter as Twentieth-century Hero (Paperback)
I was very surprised at just how interesting this book was as I was unsure how an interest in trainspotting could make for an interesting read! However, the author has a wonderful way of describing his - and England's - social development from the early 1960's until the present day in a manner which makes you keep going back for more.It is also down to earth and the fact that Whittaker does not set out to make trainspotters into hero's actually strengthens the case for their high ranking as a group who witness the changing times. Anyone who likes travel writing, especially rail travel, will enjoy this book that not only covers the UK but also delves into Europe. Whilst it does leave open some questions as to the psychological aspects of some people who crave to list every possible type of number on wagons, etc., it does show what an integral role trains have had in the social and economic development of England in the latter half of the 20th century. I would have liked more on Wittaker's own history as he suddenly refers to a son and then to another child without reference to how such important developments fit with the personal history he has given us up to his late teens / early twenties.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book,
By A Customer
This review is from: Platform Souls: The Train Spotter as Twentieth-century Hero (Paperback)
This is an excellent book which kept me engrossed for hours. The autobiographical style combined with a great sense of humour showing that not all Trainspotters/Railway Enthusiasts wear anoraks but are normal human beings.
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