Rails to Nowhere is a transport podcast that I do with my friend Simon. We aim to bring academic level research on transportation to a wider audience. It's mostly a railway based thing.
You can listen to the show in any good podcast player (subscribe with RSS), on YouTube or on PodBean. A QR code to load the Rails to Nowhere site up on your phone is here.
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Series
The U.E.R.L., London Transport & the Motorcar
Episodes 6 - 14. Released 2023-2024.
This series focuses on Simon's dissertation topic. We explore the rise of the UERL, Frank Pick, Lord Ashfield, Charles Tyson Yerkes and other characters with good moustaches. The period covered is from around 1899 to 1950. This period is unique in London’s history, characterised by the expansion of fast, electric railways throughout the city and the suburbs and allowing London to expand it’s borders. It’s also the period of some of the more motor-oriented policy in London’s history. Bus stops replace hail and ride, trams are slowly replaced with trolleybuses & regular busses and a general push towards a modernised but auto-oriented London Transport is catalogued in this series.
This series also sees us joined by several guests, including Paul and Emily from Roundel Round We Go and Aaron. We also acknowledge the help and support of Dr David Turner with Simon's dissertation.
The Jersey Railways & Tramways
Episodes ? - ?. Release Pending.
This series covers the history of the Jersey Railways & Tramways company. This was a company that ran a small 7 ½ mile railway on the island of Jersey, connecting St. Helier with St Aubin and the tourist hotspot at Corbiere. After a management buyout, the company becomes a harbinger of railway technology. Electrification of the system is considered, modern lighting is trialled and the now famous Sentinel Camel railcars that saw worldwide adoption were originally designed and built for this humble railway. We also explore how the railway fought and then embraced fierce competition from new bus companies, as well as how it was an early adopter of the “feeder bus” paradigm.
British Rail and Technology (Mini Series)
Episodes 2 - 5. Released between 2022 and Present
An ongoing series that looks at various aspects of British Rail’s relationship with technology. Episodes have touched on things like the Advanced Passenger Train, Total Operations and Processing System (TOPS), the Automatic Warning System (and derivatives). We also question the value of the Pacer train, the advances in signalling technology and interrogate the common understanding of the 1950’s Modernisation Plan.