British railway enthusiasm

<p>Now available in paperback this is the first academic book to study railway enthusiasts in Britain. Far from a trivial topic the post-war train spotting craze swept most boys and some girls into a passion for railways and for many ignited a lifetime's interest. <br><br>British railway enthusiasm traces this post-war cohort and those which followed as they invigorated different sectors in the world of railway enthusiasm - train spotting railway modelling collecting railway relics - and then in response to the demise of main line steam traction Britain's now-huge preserved railway industry. Today this industry finds itself riven by tensions between preserving a loved past which ever fewer people can remember and earning money from tourist visitors.<br><br>The widespread and enduring significance of railway enthusiasm will ensure that this groundbreaking text remains a key work in transport studies and will appeal to enthusiasts as much as to students and scholars of transport and cultural history.</p>