The infinite sadness of slow trains...
20 November 2010
Just submitted the manuscript of On the Slow Train Again: twelve more great British train journeys – bringing to a close a marvellous year of travel on stopping trains around the UK. The book will be published by Random House next April, alongside the new revised paperback edition of On the Slow Train. All 24 journeys for both books were a treat and a pleasure. But some were very special and stood out. I measured these by my own personal "wistfulness index" - the level of sadness I felt at having to return home at the end of the trip. Top was the the little branch line from Liskeard to Looe in Cornwall. On one crisp sunny autumn morning a few weeks ago, strolling round the salty old harbour at Looe, I deliberately missed my train back to London because I could hardly bear to leave a scene so idyllic...
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