Michael Williams

Here we travel on the slow train to another era when travel meant more than hurrying from one place to the next, the journey meaning nothing but time lost in crowded carriages, condemned by broken timetables. Tap into a love of railways, a love of history, and a love of nostalgia.

From the most luxurious and historic - aboard the Orient Express, to the most futuristic - the driverless trains of London's Docklands Light Railway, here is a unique travel companion celebrating the treasures of our railway heritage from one of Britain's most knowledgeable railway writers.

The railway system during the Second World War was the lifeline of the nation, replacing vulnerable road transport and merchant shipping. Trains transported millions to and from work each day and sheltered them on underground platforms at night. Without the railways, there would have been no Dunkirk evacuation and no D-Day.