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PODCAST

Great Rail Tales

2025 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway. The opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway connected places, people, communities and ideas and, ultimately, transformed the world. Part of the Railway 200 celebrations, Great Rail Tales tells the story of our railway by the people who live, work and travel the tracks. So, join us and help celebrate the past, the present and the future of our national railway. Discover more about Railway 200 online:

society & culture

All Episodes

12:19

John Chalmers – Driving Her Majesty the Late Queen to...

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/11/09

To mark the centenary of the Entente Cordiale between Great Britain and France, Queen Elizabeth II travelled to Paris on the Eurostar.John Chalmers was chosen to drive the train that day and recalls how his career as an apprentice railman took him to the platform of Gard du Nord to be introduced to his Royal passengers.

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4:17

Penny Allen – Discovering the railway is in your blood

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/11/06

A shift in career led Penny Allen down an entirely different life track. A passion for the railway was born and soon led to her discovering that the railway was already in her blood. In Penny’s Great Rail Tale she recalls her family background in the railway and how it has shaped her life today.

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8:54

Alan Brooks – Oh la la! Driving the first train...

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/11/03

Eurostar driving instructor, Alan Brooks recalls a lifetime on the rails that he can trace back to a French class at school. But what started at school ended up with Alan driving one of the very first trains to travel through the newly completed Channel Tunnel.

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8:33

Tim Shoveller – From steam volunteer to CEO...

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/31

A railwayman through and through, Tim Shoveller found himself using his bardic lamp to help guide an ambulance to a halt when his wife went into early labour.But his railway life started long before parenthood. Tim was first introduced to the railway trainspotting with his mother on the platform at Reading. The railway found its way into his blood. By 15 he was a volunteer at the Watercress Line on Mid Hants Railway this triggered a lifelong career that started as a guard at Guildford. Tim

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4:01

Christina Burgess – Remembering Joseph Harrop

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/28

Volunteer at the multi award winning Goostrey station, in this Great Rail Tale Christina Burgess recalls work and roles that railway worker, Joseph Harrop had at the station and on the Crewe – Manchester Line over his half a century of service. Telling Joseph’s story is part of a wider storytelling event at Goostrey station where friends of Goostrey Station worked with Goostrey Parish Archive to create eight metal boards which recorded the history of the station in text and images. They will be

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9:32

Alex Alder – Discovering 39 tonnes of miracle

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/25

When engineer and rail enthusiast, Alex Alder, got a message in a group chat saying someone had found a scrapped steam engine, little did he know the story and adventure that was waiting for him in a shed at the far end of the grounds of a convent.

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13:16

Lewis Smith – What’s behind one of the world’s most...

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/22

The iconic British Rail logo is one of, if not, the most recognisable brand images in the world. But what is behind the logo? What do these iconic double arrows reflect and what imagery does it conjure in our collective mindset?While some people might imagine dirty, late or cancelled trains, Dr Lewis Smith, Marketing Lecturer from Brunel University, London argues that this icon represents a dynamic, ahead-of-its-time organisation that pivoted to meet changes in culture, society and travel making it

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9:21

Jenny Clementson – Researching the railway of the future

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/19

Research project manager from the University of Derby, Jenny Clementson’s background was in the rail industry. Today she leads on the industry connected academic research into the future of our railway.From hydrogen powered shunting wagons to AI deciding where, when and how to implement infrastructure maintenance this is the edge where design, ideas and research come together.

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13:08

Sam Slatcher – Passengers and Pioneers

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/16

Passengers and Pioneers is an album of stories from 1825 to today that celebrate what it means to be a passenger and travelling on a railway line. A writer in residence session with the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership gave singer songwriter and heritage enthusiast, Sam Slatcher, a deep insight and connection to the route and people of the north east’s railway. Gathering stories that connected from the past to the present, through generations and across families he was inspired to write a

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10:32

Shahiesta Raja – Stations of Welcome

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/13

Shahiesta describes her job as the best job in the world. She is the education development officer for Community Rail Lancashire. Her passion is supporting south Asian Muslim women living in Lancashire feel a sense of belonging and connection with the local rail network. By supporting and encouraging women to travel by train she gets huge satisfaction from seeing the impact that the freedom of independent rail travel has on these women’s lives. Stations of Welcome, the support group she set up, is

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10:33

The Bee Friendly Trust – Pollinating the platforms

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/10

Our platforms and rail networks are alive with wildlife. Hanging baskets, wildflower planters and station gardens are all helping bees pollinate the flora around the stations and tracks. This, in turn, encourages an increased biodiversity of fauna, even in the most urban areas.Emma Pritchard and the Trust’s founder, Luke Dixon describe how by working with community groups, station staff and travellers they have developed a network of rich wildlife corridors and how you can help them with every

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5:34

David Pitt – Adventures on the Iron Road

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/07

David started his railway career as a station supervisor at Kingston, where he watched and learned how a station worked and was run. A transfer to become a train dispatcher at Waterloo and soon a guard started to become his greatest dreams coming true. Soon a move to Chester to raise his family enabled David to become a driver and then a driver instructor. His greatest moment, packed full of pride, was the day he saw several of his trainee drivers handing on their trains to each other.

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11:40

Roy Edwards – The Railway Clearing House – The first...

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/10/02

The Railway Clearing House revolutionised the allocation of revenues collected for travelling passengers and the carriage of freight on the early rail network. Described as the original human supercomputer, a work force of hundreds would account for and distribute funds collected owed to railway owning companies.Dr Roy Edwards is Lecturer within Southampton Business School at the University of Southampton who recent research focuses on the Railway Clearing House. In this Great Rail Tale Roy

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5:57

Jonathan Whitmore – Railway modelling through simulators

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/09/29

Artist, railway history enthusiast, and YouTuber Jonathan Whitmore explores the world of railway scenes through virtual railway simulators. Having recreated some himself, he reflects on the imagination and dedication that go into building digital versions of the great routes from around the world. These simulators can replicate railways in astonishing detail—digital dioramas crafted through extensive research and passion. More than just a game, some are even used to train new drivers for route

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12:45

Lord Hendy – The Minister for Rail with transport in...

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/09/25

The railway has been a part of Lord Hendy’s life since he was a young lad, listening to the passing roars and whistles of the passing steam trains on the Great Western Line. But it was family holidays, travelling by train down to Cornwall that gave him a huge sense of adventure by rail.His passion for heritage railways is deeply rooted in their individual uniqueness and how they draw communities together, but he stresses that we can still learn about the future of rail by understanding the past and

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5:04

Andy Uttley - faking a walk on the wild side of the...

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/09/23

Retired railwayman Andy Uttley reflects back on a couple of humorous stories from his 40 years working on the railways. One of the more serious hazards on the railway can be large animals like cattle or deer and it’s important to locate any animals which may have strayed onto the line through a damaged fence and safely remove them as soon as possible. Early in Andy’s career the proximity of the railway line to an animal rescue centre provided an irresistible opportunity for the perfect hoax to play

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13:17

Laura Littlefair – Putting Shildon on the map - the...

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/09/20

Phd researcher Laura Littlefair at Northumbria University takes us on a journey through the history of Shildon, the Railway Town. From its agricultural origins through the huge changes that the railways brought in the early 1800s to the present day where railway and industrial heritage is central to the town people’s lives. Education, industrial engineering and people came with the railways, in particular the wagon works, founded in 1833 and open until 1984, providing not just huge local

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4:04

Tiegan - In praise of Trainbow

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/09/17

Train enthusiast Tiegan talks about the impact the Intercity Express Trains (IET), specifically Trainbow 800 008 operated by Great Western Railway, has had on their life. Tiegan’s enthusiasm for the pride trains has resulted in nearly 200 journeys on trainbow, an album, artwork and even a full tattoo sleeve inspired by the train set. For Tiegan seeing a pride train has significantly impacted on their identity, it’s about feeling seen and heard and knowing there’s always a safe space on a

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9:17

Dr James Fowler - Turning the lights on and the...

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/09/14

Dr James Fowler, a business history lecturer at Essex University, discusses the little explored inter-relationship between the railways and energy networks like the national grid. Before the national grid the railways were essential for delivering Britain’s domestic energy supply through transporting coal to every household in the land. Then, in 1963, the arrival of the national grid, which coincided with the infamous Beeching report, meant a revolution in the railway network, transforming how the

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6:41

Sally Jones - Inspiring artists of the future

Great Rail Tales ·

2025/09/11

Sally Jones, an art teacher at East Riding College, talks about how her students have been inspired by Railway 200 to bring art deco into the 21st century using contemporary design techniques to re-imagine classic railway poster art in celebration of the railway in Beverley and Sheffield. As well as providing a colourful talking point and beautiful designs for the station walls, the resulting posters have given the students confidence, pride and self-belief.You can see some of the students artwork

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69 results

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