What is your current "read"?

[Duck59]

Blood, Iron and Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World by Christian Wolmar. I am not, I hasten to add, a trainspotter. What I have an interest in is how the railways completely changed the way people live. I think that railways have been responsible for the biggest transformation in society that has ever happened, even more so than the internet.

Railways changed how people live, the houses they live in, the food they eat; railways even changed time, in the sense that there was no standardised time in Britain until railways came along. Timetables meant that time had to be the same in different parts of the country - until then, everywhere had its own local time. Towns and cities grew because of railways and the suburbs you see around large cities and towns now are almost entirely due to the railways.

One thing that is evident from reading this is that in the places where railways were built up by private investors and entrepreneurs, you get a disjointed and messy system. Britain is the prime example of this. In countries where railways were funded by the state, the network is, to use a dread phrase, joined up.

This is a thoroughly excellent social history, especially to someone like me who is a bit of an obsessive when it comes to the nineteenth century.

 

[Francesca]

Dubai based Italian Food Designer Maurizio Pelli had his best seller translated into English. It is absolutely amazing.

 

[Cinisajoy]

Blood, Iron and Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World by Christian Wolmar. I am not, I hasten to add, a trainspotter. What I have an interest in is how the railways completely changed the way people live. I think that railways have been responsible for the biggest transformation in society that has ever happened, even more so than the internet.

Railways changed how people live, the houses they live in, the food they eat; railways even changed time, in the sense that there was no standardised time in Britain until railways came along. Timetables meant that time had to be the same in different parts of the country - until then, everywhere had its own local time. Towns and cities grew because of railways and the suburbs you see around large cities and towns now are almost entirely due to the railways.

One thing that is evident from reading this is that in the places where railways were built up by private investors and entrepreneurs, you get a disjointed and messy system. Britain is the prime example of this. In countries where railways were funded by the state, the network is, to use a dread phrase, joined up.

This is a thoroughly excellent social history, especially to someone like me who is a bit of an obsessive when it comes to the nineteenth century.

Same in the US on the timetables.
On railroads, I heard a funny one on another forum. A guy said that he didn't think the railroad was going to be around much longer because planes and cars had taken over the travel industry. When told they still carried freight, he said well it can't be that much. He was very surprised to learn that freight trains are now over 2 km long and carry everything from chemicals to cars to everything else including double layers of cargo boxes and they come by several times a day.
He tried to say he hadn't seen a train in years.
He finally admitted that he hadn't been anywhere near a railroad track in many years.
I am not positive but I think you need to be near a track to see a train.

 

[Elawin]

Blood, Iron and Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World by Christian Wolmar. I am not, I hasten to add, a trainspotter. What I have an interest in is how the railways completely changed the way people live. I think that railways have been responsible for the biggest transformation in society that has ever happened, even more so than the internet.

Railways changed how people live, the houses they live in, the food they eat; railways even changed time, in the sense that there was no standardised time in Britain until railways came along. Timetables meant that time had to be the same in different parts of the country - until then, everywhere had its own local time. Towns and cities grew because of railways and the suburbs you see around large cities and towns now are almost entirely due to the railways.

One thing that is evident from reading this is that in the places where railways were built up by private investors and entrepreneurs, you get a disjointed and messy system. Britain is the prime example of this. In countries where railways were funded by the state, the network is, to use a dread phrase, joined up.

This is a thoroughly excellent social history, especially to someone like me who is a bit of an obsessive when it comes to the nineteenth century.

That book is on my wish list. I've already got his book "Fire & Steam" but haven't read it yet.

Have you read "Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay"? Brilliant book which shows the disastrous effects of cost-cutting in Victorian England. Coincidentally, there is an OU short course this too.

 

[Elawin]

Same in the US on the timetables.
On railroads, I heard a funny one on another forum. A guy said that he didn't think the railroad was going to be around much longer because planes and cars had taken over the travel industry. When told they still carried freight, he said well it can't be that much. He was very surprised to learn that freight trains are now over 2 km long and carry everything from chemicals to cars to everything else including double layers of cargo boxes and they come by several times a day.
He tried to say he hadn't seen a train in years.
He finally admitted that he hadn't been anywhere near a railroad track in many years.
I am not positive but I think you need to be near a track to see a train.

I live about a mile from the railway lines that go through my town. There is one particular freight train that goes through every night about 3.30 a.m. that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I can hear it in spite of the distance, double-glazing and the windows being shut tight, and without my hearing aids

 

[Elawin]

Since finishing "Bryant and May - The Burning Man" by Christopher Fowler, I read another of his books "Bryant and May - Strange Tide". I found it a bit harder to get into the story, but it was still very good. At the moment I am about half way through "The Leopard" by Jo Nesbo.

 

[Francesca]

I live about a mile from the railway lines that go through my town. There is one particular freight train that goes through every night about 3.30 a.m. that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I can hear it in spite of the distance, double-glazing and the windows being shut tight, and without my hearing aids

@Elawin

All my deepest heart felt empathy !

Why don´t you conisder a move ? It seems like the only viable solution ..

I would never live near a rail road or close to an Outdoor " L " shaped train or on a National Highway .. Very un-condusive.

Good luck ..

 

[Cinisajoy]

I live about a mile from the railway lines that go through my town. There is one particular freight train that goes through every night about 3.30 a.m. that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I can hear it in spite of the distance, double-glazing and the windows being shut tight, and without my hearing aids

We live close to. They are not supposed to blow their whistles in town, but about once a week we hear the whistle. That is when we start hoping we don't hear sirens soon after.

A few years back in the next town over, there was a horrific (easily prevented) accident. A "charity" had hired some "truck drivers" to haul some people on trailers down a parade route. It happened to have crossed the railroad tracks. One driver saw the lights come on to say a train was coming, he told the media after the crash that he thought they were to stop traffic so the parade could go through. The train missed his truck but hit the trailer carrying I think 12 people. 4 were killed.

Note: The railroad did pick up most of the medical expenses.

So anyway, some lawyer for the charity decides to sue the railroad for not stopping. Oh yes, the railroad was in the process of stopping but a train going 60 mph cannot stop in 1780 feet.
The railroad said go for it and we will countersue for damages to the train, emotional trauma and time lost due to having to shut down an entire line of track for more than 24 hours.
Needless to say, that lawyer decided since his driver was at fault to drop that idea.

 

[Elawin]

@Elawin

All my deepest heart felt empathy !

Why don´t you conisder a move ? It seems like the only viable solution ..

I would never live near a rail road or close to an Outdoor " L " shaped train or on a National Highway .. Very un-condusive.

Good luck ..

The real clue is in "and without my hearing aids". The noise is nowhere near so much as for people with normal hearing, and I do live between two main roads, and by a major intersection of three trunk roads and two main roads, with a major motorway not so far away. The noise is still nowhere near as bad as a police helicopter or air ambulance flying over, to several Hercules planes.....

There is also a police depot and fire station in the next street. When you live in a big city like London, you expect noise 24/7. It's the quiet that keeps me awake.

 

[Duck59]

I live right next to a railway line and we have moments where you feel like you're in a scene from The Blues Brothers, but I prefer to celebrate the railways. The people that did most of the work, however, remain largely forgotten. In the words of a celebrated song, Navigator, Navigator, rise up and be strong, the morning is here and there's work to be done...

 

[Lynne Guinne]

The real clue is in "and without my hearing aids". The noise is nowhere near so much as for people with normal hearing, and I do live between two main roads, and by a major intersection of three trunk roads and two main roads, with a major motorway not so far away....

Hubby refers to my hearing as "bat ears". I was told your hearing was supposed to become less sharp as you age. For me, it seems I'm trending the opposite. Our local train tracks is about 2 airline miles away, and we're up the terrain from the them. Late at night, when all the neighbors are sleeping and the two of us are quietly watching TV or reading in our living room, some nights the train sounds close enough for us to think its running along the next street downhill from our house. It's a nice, comforting sound ..until I try to go to sleep in the bedroom directly over the living room. My solution? Silicone ear plugs. Bought right off the shelf at any pharmacy or big box store, I pop them in and hear nothing. On occasion, that "nothing" has included my alarm, but only on the nights I've had nothing but broken sleep. Best investment ever, and the best cheap solution.

 

[Cinisajoy]

Oh currently read is My five husbands and the ones that got away by Rue McClanahan, Also 2 Chicken soup books, Christian and Golden Souls.

 

[epicuric]

Just on the final chapter of Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential". A good read, but surprisingly little mention of food itself. However, I do like the sound of his cooking so I have ordered a copy of "Les Halles Cookbook".

I found my next read in a charity shop this morning:

 

[Lynne Guinne]

Since I finished my last cozy mystery (Joanne Fluke's "Christmas Caramel Mystery", I've been going through my much-too-tall stack of magazines. I've knocked off five. I have about 10 more to go...wait, 11. A fresh copy just arrived today...

 

[Yorky]

I haven't read a magazine since Punch stopped publishing in the early 90s. It was revived a few years later for a spell but that was after I left the UK.