tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post854301334657284656..comments2024-03-25T15:10:13.792+00:00Comments on English Buildings: For steam menPhilip Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-30164240209914533422011-05-04T08:43:40.047+01:002011-05-04T08:43:40.047+01:00Bazza: I agree. I'd have it on my wall. Maybe ...Bazza: I agree. I'd have it on my wall. Maybe the Archi Rev should reprint some of its old covers as posters. They certainly employed some excellent artists (John Piper, Kenneth Rowntree in addition to Osbert Lancaster).Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-16273085176538635242011-05-04T08:40:02.511+01:002011-05-04T08:40:02.511+01:00George: Congratulations on spotting the allusion t...George: Congratulations on spotting the allusion to Myles. You should get a prize - a pint of plain, perhaps. Penn Station is indeed a sad loss. I was there last week, as it happens, and the sad slab of Madison Square Garden in no way compensates for the extraordinary building that was swept away. Still, it was wonderful to emerge from the gloomy depths of the New Jersey Transit track right into Manhattan.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-57950615236809581072011-05-04T06:52:01.043+01:002011-05-04T06:52:01.043+01:00Not only is that a wonderful design (it would make...Not only is that a wonderful design (it would make a superb wall poster) but it's an interesting primary source for enjoying the various liveries that existed.<br />Asd a young teenager I would have loved to hang that on my bedroom wall; actually I wouldn't mind it as an adult!<br /><a href="http://todiscoverice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> Click here for Bazza’s Blog ‘To Discover Ice’</a>bazzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14794010156639774028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-48205097113075135202011-05-04T01:51:48.575+01:002011-05-04T01:51:48.575+01:00I had to click, given the Mylesian title.
The oth...I had to click, given the Mylesian title.<br /><br />The other winter I read or reread Yeats's <i>Autobiographies</i> and winced at his passing praise for New York City's Pennsylvania Station--it was torn down in the 1960s and replaced by an unattractive underground annex to Madison Square Garden.<br /><br />Yet Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington have handsome stations yet.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-28316133884211280952011-05-03T09:11:18.663+01:002011-05-03T09:11:18.663+01:00Peter: I knew you'd like this. There's muc...Peter: I knew you'd like this. There's much, much more to say about the local distinctiveness of England's railway architecture, but above all I wanted to share this wonderful Osbert Lancaster cover.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-85151545650853026602011-05-03T09:09:55.723+01:002011-05-03T09:09:55.723+01:00François-Marc: Gordon Biddle, Britain's Histor...François-Marc: Gordon Biddle, <i>Britain's Historic Railway Buildings</i> (Oxford) is the state-of-the-art coverage. <br /><br />It's also worth looking out for an older book, Gordon Biddle and O S Nock, <i>The Railway Heritage of Britain</i> (Michael Joseph), available cheaply secondhand.<br /><br />As you mention Betjeman, have you come across his book <i>London's Historic Railway Stations</i> (John Murray)? It's out of date now, but still worth reading for Betjeman's prose and the atmospheric photographs of John Gay.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-60565006307181292082011-05-03T08:03:13.048+01:002011-05-03T08:03:13.048+01:00This is right up my street, as you can imagine Phi...This is right up my street, as you can imagine Phil. Oh a return to proper liveries on our English trains that last more than a couple of years, instead of the usual soap packet designs of whoever has won the latest franchise up for grabs. Currently only the Southern appears to pay a little respect for the green countryside through which their trains run. For 'Anonymous' I would recommend <i>Britain's Historic Railway Buildings</i> by Gordon Biddle (Oxford).Peter Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00027878122724846472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-26577070201438807552011-05-02T22:45:01.845+01:002011-05-02T22:45:01.845+01:00As a (very modest) French rail fan, I enjoyed this...As a (very modest) French rail fan, I enjoyed this post, as all your other ones.<br />Our own National Railways, S.N.C.F., were created in 1937 from four private companies and one public one. Each of the older ones had their own architecture, often trying to emulate the regional vernacular. If you can, try and find pictures of the station at Abbeville (red brick and white stone, Compagnie du Nord), or Chenonceaux (a small version of a Renaissance Loire Valley château in soft white stone and brick, Paris-Orléans), or Metz (built under the German occupation between 1871 and 1918, in a neo-mediæval Bismarckian style), or indeed many others. Books have been written on French railway architecture. The S.N.C.F. nowadays seems pretty negligent about maintaining its buildings; many are torn down, when not, or under-, used, unless protected/listed. <br />It is always a pleasure to arrive at St. Pancras under the great glass canopy with the light blue metal work and the gothic brick, with mental thanks to John Betjeman.<br />Are there any books on British railway architecture that you would recommend?<br />François-Marc ChaballierAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com