From the great cathedral-like railways stations of the steam age to obscure lines built through spectacular landscapes to open up countries before the advent of motorised road transport, this book is a celebration of our lost railway heritage and the lines that can no longer be travelled. Through stunning images, Lost Railway Journeys from Around the World evokes the romance and drama of these journeys, taking the reader as close as they can possibly get to this lost world of dining cars, sleeping cars, station porters and international rail travel. Organised by continent, all of these routes have stories to tell and the lost journeys are captured in the old postcards and posters that accompany photographs drawn from collections and archives across the world.

Take a journey on The Somerset & Dorset Railway back to the halcyon days of steam to a time when a tablet was either taken for a headache or used to ensure only one train was on a single track section at a time, and blackberries were picked on the line-side to make a pie. The book will take you on the journey from Bath to Bournemouth describing the stations along the route and is complemented by tales from the footplate told by Somerset & Dorset men Wallace Moon and Geoff Akers. Then fast forward to the present and 50 years ago what to many was the best loved line of all was swept aside by the ruthless actions of Dr Beeching. But out of adversity comes opportunity and a spirited group of enthusiasts, all volunteers, has worked relentlessly since 1996 to lovingly restore the station at Midsomer Norton. We are now welcoming steam locomotives once again to the Somerset & Dorset Railway with the aim of edging closer and closer to Chilcompton Tunnel and beyond.