Between 1923 and 1947 the railway poster in Britain was in its heyday. These were the years of the so-called 'Big Four' companies: the Great Western Railway, Southern Railway, London Midland and Scottish Railway, and London and North Eastern Railway. In the competition for passengers, each of the companies developed its own distinctive style of poster advertising. This book contains over 200 of the most striking and innovative designs of the period.

The rivalry of railway companies and their changing attitudes to advertising from the 1870s to the 1920s is traced. The book illustrates the development of the advertising poster with plates from the National Railway Museum's collection.

This diary showcases a selection of the most popular posters from theollection of the national Railway Museum. Showing nostalgic images of thelying Scotsman and other famous engines, glamorous destinations, dramaticandscapes and sunny beaches, all these posters were commissioned in theolden age of railway travel to be displayed in waiting rooms, bookingffices and on platforms to entice the traveller. Each week has a full-pageolour illustration and the diary includes national and religious holidaysnd astronomical information. Beautifully produced in week-to-view formatith a colour picture on every spread and a ribbon marker, and with a freshesign, generously laid out, with plenty of room to write, this is a perfectift for travel and art lovers alike. The National Railway Museum in York ishe largest of its kind in the world. It holds an exceptional collection ofbout 8,000 railway posters dating back to the 1920s.