{"product_id":"the-illustrated-guide-to-the-south-eastern-railway-1853-9781853060007","title":"The Illustrated Guide to the South Eastern Railway 1853","description":"\u003cp\u003eFacsimile of the original 1853 publication\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen George Measom wrote his Illustrated Guide to the South Eastern Railway in 1853, railway fever was at its height. People were eager to know more about the new great iron highways and smoking engines which now allowed them to reach remote parts of the country and even travel to the Continent in just a matter of hours. The Great Exhibition of 1851 had attracted some six million visitors, many of them experiencing the excitement of their first ever railway journey when they travelled to it. This was the true Age of the Train. His guide is alive with an atmosphere of bustle and steam as he takes the reader on a journey over the whole network, describing in detail its towns, cities, stations and the country-side between them. He points out the great engineering achievements which created the Folkestone Viaduct and the Shakespeare Cliff Tunnel at Dover, and he describes the Depot and Carriage Factory at Ashford which then employed nearly 500 workmen. And at the end of the line he recounts the pleasures in abundance which awaited the passengers. The delights of Margate included fireworks at the Tivoli and 'waiting rooms well equipped with papers, books, pianos and other appliances for allaying the impatience of bathers' waiting to use the popular bathing machines. His text is embellished with nearly fifty illustrations from original drawings which make the book as irresistible today as it was over a century ago.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardback, 104 pages, black \u0026amp; white illustrations\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition: Good\/Very Good\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Countryside Books","offers":[{"title":"Secondhand (282","offer_id":32150042214509,"sku":"9781853060007","price":5.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1910\/7111\/products\/9781853060007.jpg?v=1585433609","url":"https:\/\/rail-books.co.uk\/products\/the-illustrated-guide-to-the-south-eastern-railway-1853-9781853060007","provider":"Rail Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}