Whilst wandering round the National Railway Museum my Mum reminisced about what train travel used to be like before commerce took over. Back in those days it was all about looking after the customer and making them comfortable so they enjoyed their journey. This was before the days of getting a person from A to B at the cheapest cost and before company profits were more important than customer comfort and safety.
Sadly modern lifestyles and expectations have hastened this change which I believe to be a backward step…
Now going back to the reminisces. My grandfather worked as a guardsman on the railways (on this line). I have fond memories of being able to greet him on my local station for a brief hug before the train had to carry on its journey.
What a beautiful ‘insginia’. And – it’s so true about our means and methods of transport these days. Love the little bit of family history and nostalgia about your grandfather.
Thanks Marcie
You have to try the Eastern & Oriental Express if you visit Malaysia in the future.
It will take you from Singapore to Thailand, but you get to see Malaysia most throughout the journey.
The scenery sounds wonderful but how is that line for comfort?
Just love those colours – things were so much richer then.
Life was very austere then, but there was more humanity in those days. To weather the storm, we need to get that back!
Call me a romantic, Cherry, but I absolutely love trains, even though they aren’t like what they used to be. I just wish America had kept up with the times, making the rails an important mode of transportation. Europe could teach us a thing or two!
I love that you have such fond memories of your grandfather. So sweet.
I do love trains when they have enough room on them for you to enjoy the journey. Often from my local station, there aren’t enough carriages and you end up standing up for nearly an hour.
I would love to have travelled on one of these big old elegant machines
This post reminds me that what we have running on the railways today are mainly glorified buses. I travelled a lot on the railways during the transition period from diesel to … errr … bus & it wasn’t pleasant.
Glorified buses with not enough space for all the passengers, unless they would like to stand up for their journey!