Although the railways weren’t the first type of mass holiday transport – that prize goes to the steamships that preceded them – they helped develop many of Britain’s favourite seaside resorts. Holiday Trains follows this development, paying visits to Blackpool, Margate, Southport and Weston-super-Mare, and also looking at the other sorts of holiday that the railways made possible.Railways didn’t just take holidaymakers to the coast. Rambling and cycling grew in popularity between 1870 and 1914, with many companies providing services and facilities for both. They also contributed to the camping craze by providing special ‘camping coaches’ on sidings or in rural station yards.
After the First World War the cost of motoring came down and the use of motor coaches grew, so railways’ share of the market fell, but it was really the rise of cheaper air fares in the 1960s that started the steady decline in holiday rail travel. However, some holiday trains can still be caught today...
Reviews
Anyone who longs for the days when there were summer Saturday-dated trains throughout the UK will bask in the pure nostalgia conjured up in these pages and wonder where it all went wrong.
Best of British
This book...not only acquaints readers with the history of the subject, but also provides an insight into the many types of trains and destinations that were once so numerous.
Railways Illustrated
