Great Rail Tales
2025 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway. The opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway connected places, people, communities and ideas and, ultimately, transformed the world. Part of the Railway 200 celebrations, Great Rail Tales tells the story of our railway by the people who live, work and travel the tracks. So, join us and help celebrate the past, the present and the future of our national railway. Discover more about Railway 200 online: https://railway200.co.uk/
Episodes
Steve Melia describes the joy and sense of discovery he finds when he uses the railway as part of his walks. Starting from one station his walks aren’t defined by looping back to the beginning to find the car, but instead but exploring which stations can be linked up and finding new routes that interconnect around the network. Both urban and rural railwalks open up the environment around us in a completely different way by rail and...
From making souffles at over 70 mph to collecting fresh langoustines from the pier at Mallaig, Chef Neil Forbes launched his career (and found love) in the galley of The Royal Scotsman.
Fine dining on the rails creates a unique set of challenges for any chef, from sourcing their ingredients from producers and fishermen along the line to having an in-depth knowledge of where all the station bins are. Neil’s Great Rail Tale is full o...
David Mochan, secretary of the 6VT Community Rail Partnership in Edinburgh describes some of the work of the country’s only youth led CRP
Caroline describes the moment she fell in love with steam trains. Her first and lifelong love for the railway began in Swanage. Today she still feels the same joy when she rides on board a steam train as she did as a young woman, a deep connection that goes to the heart of her soul.
Georgie’s passion for the railway began in 2017 in Walton on the Naze when she first saw the Tornado 60163 steam train. It was, quite literally, love at first sight and has led Georgie on adventures she never expected to be taking. For Georgie her past, present and future feel inextricably wound round the railway network and trains she loves so much.
The first railway chemical laboratory was opened in 1864 by the London & North Western Railway at Crewe, and the last ones lost their direct link to the rail industry when it was privatised in 1996. Whatever their expertise, every railway chemist or ‘stink’ has been asked the same question: “What do you actually do”?
In this episode, stinkers David Smith, Ian McEwean, John Sheldon and Ian Cotter recount some the invaluable work...
Songwriter, record producer and publisher, Pete Waterman is also an avid train enthusiast, sharing an interest in model railways with Jools Holland and Rod Stewart. Before a career in music Pete worked for BR, but it was watching the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral following the war that sparked his love of model railway building.
Today he holds the world record for the biggest mobile model railway display, 999.90 metres of track ...
The railway isn’t just in Phil Hibberd’s blood; it’s in his DNA. The son of a railway engineer and a railway wages clerk who met at the local Railway Social Club, his ancestry in the railway industry can be traced back to the mid 19th Century.
It was in retirement that his father, Derek Hibberd, started to trace the family heritage. Finding links to the railway in Bombay and across the UK, one of the most sentimental links was to b...
An accident on the track early in his railway career led Chris Leech to develop the first community education programme to reduce route crime on the rail network. The Track-Off campaign led to a 54% reduction in youth route crime across the UK.
Today he works with the Rebuilding Futures Alliance supporting people with previous convictions turn their lives around through training and employment in the railway.
Senior curator at the National Railway Museum and Locomotion in Shildon, Anthony Coulls describes how the growth of the railway started to change human society, our diet, the economy, the concept of time, migration, the look of landscape and our national obsession with speed.
Find out more about major moments in the history of the railway on our timeline: https://railway200.co.uk/timeline/
Travel writer Monisha Rajesh describes her love of literally watching the world go by through the carriage window and how she watches and listens to people as she travels the world by rail on her life-affirming adventures.
Curator of the Railway Futures Gallery at the National Railway Museum, Rob curated the ‘Railway Firsts’ carriage that forms part of Inspiration, the mobile exhibition train, that is touring Britain as part of the Railway 200 celebrations.
The carriage celebrates the pioneering pedigree and innovation of the railway, while also highlighting landmark moments in the development of the railway.
Head of research at the National Railway Museum, Dr. Oli Betts describes how the railway’s rapid expansion in the United Kingdom started to change the cultural fabric of Victorian society, opening up huge opportunities. People started to commute and holiday by train. The rail network helped to connect the country.
This expansion and connection caught the eyes of investors and engineers from around the world. Oli explains how the ra...
Railway enthusiast and volunteer Ziyad’s love for the railway started on the island of Sodor. Today Ziyad has taken his love for Thomas and friends into the real railway world at both Talyllyn and Didcot railways where he volunteers. What started as a passion with Thomas, Ziyad hopes will soon become a career.
Children’s author Matt Crossfield describes how experiencing the hiss, wheeze and roar of the steam railway at Dean Forest Railway for the first time ignited a lifelong passion in him.
Matt started volunteering on the railway at just 8 years old as a travelling ticket inspector at Dean Forest before his first driving experience at Perrygrove Railway. Today he volunteers at Tinton Old Railway station where loves connecting with peop...
Fiona Campbell recalls a lifetime of memories of travelling on the Caledonian Sleeper spanning childhood holidays to hen weekends to trips to London with family.
Kyla Hislop, interpretation curator for the Iron Bridge Gorge Museum Trust, shares her passion for making our industrial history come alive through telling the stories of innovation and discovery which have helped shape the modern world. She tells the tale of how the invention of the railways allowed fresh fish to be transported around the UK, fuelling the Victorian passion for Fish n Chips, a passion many of us share to this day!
A lifelong railway man who’s story goes back 150 years to his great great grandfather who started a family tradition of working on the railways. Thanks to the railway, Paul met his wife, named his sons and has enjoyed a lifetime of close friendships, connections and precious memories including the time he made the late Queen laugh!
Matt shares an emotional and heartfelt story of how the railway gave his partner’s son Ruben his first smile and real laugh in 4 years. 14 year old Ruben has a life-limiting condition but the railway has become a shared passion for Ruben and his ‘bonus daddy’, Matt, allowing them a way to make precious memories when they know time is much too short for them all.
Born and bought up near The Bentham Line, today Gerald Townson is the Chairman of the Leeds Morecambe Community Rail Partnership, which includes The Bentham Line, which is celebrating its 175th year at the same time as the Railway 200 celebrations. The Bentham Line has been become known as the dementia friendly line for its efforts on inclusivity and community for people living with dementia and their loved ones. Gerald describes t...
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