Last week, steam trains returned to London. To celebrate the centenary of the Great Central and Great Western line from London to Banbury, six trains ran between the capital and High Wycombe and back.
The line was one of the last main lines built in Britain - and thanks to its late arrival, its birth was recorded in detail by photographer SWA Newton. Ironically its sister line, the Great Central's London extension, closed after less than 70 years, depriving Britain of a modern railway that would have been a godsend in the days of high speed trains.
Such short-sighted thinking is all too common on Britain's transport system. Today, Chiltern Railways are carving two new platforms at Marylebone on the site of the old train sidings, making up for the space lost to the station when British Rail sold off half the site 15 years ago.
Comments