This is the fifth of Roger Mason’s books describing memorable sights that travellers can view out of the carriage window as they travel by train, in this case on the route of ‘The Flying Scotsman’ along the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh.

Starting with a brief description of The Flying Scotsman locomotive, there follows 40 two-three-page chapters describing notable places either next to or very close to the East Coast Main Line.

Besides cathedrals, castles, and viaducts, and notable landmarks, statues and monuments, there are many anecdotes about notable events associated with places along the line.

Stories behind statues of a famous footballer and Prime Minister are balanced by tales of shipwrecked sailors being rescued by a daring heroine, Scotland’s worst-ever fishing disaster, and how striking miners derailed a train.

Published in September 2024 by Amberley Publishing and written by Roger Mason, this soft-cover book measures around 16.5 cm x 23.4 cm, and has 96 pages and 40 colour photographs.

It has a published price of £15.99, but at the time of writing, it can be purchased for £14.39 from Amberley Publishing and for £14.53 from Amazon.

Although not visible to a train passenger, they will be conscious of crossing the Welwyn Viaduct as it soars over the countryside below, nor will they realise that with its 40 arches, it has nearly twice as many spans as the more famous viaducts at Ribblehead on the Settle and Carlisle Line and Glenfinnan of Harry Potter fame in Scotland.

Although the viaduct is crossed just 15 minutes after leaving King’s Cross, the author has already described four other notable sights that can be seen from the train.

By the time their train reaches Grantham, most passengers will be unaware that they will have just passed a record-breaking stretch of line, for it is where on 3rd July 1938 A4 Pacific Mallard travelling south on Stoke Bank between Grantham and Peterborough broke the world’s speed record for a steam locomotive, a record that still stands.

The route from King’s Cross to Edinburgh could be called the ‘Cathedrals Route’, with several fine examples en route, none more so than Durham Cathedral standing next to the imposing bulk of Durham Castle which is visible from the right-hand side of the train as it approaches Durham station.

By this time, the train will have passed 12 other notable sights since passing Grantham.

North of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the line runs close to the North Sea coast, and about 45 minutes after leaving Newcastle, the memorable sight of Holy Island and Lindisfarne Castle can be seen standing as sentinels from the right-hand side of the train.

With trains becoming more like airliners and speeding past the countryside so fast that today’s travellers miss the pleasure of the actual journey, Roger Mason has produced a book that deserves to be an essential accompaniment for anyone travelling between London and Edinburgh.

His descriptions are detailed enough to satisfy idle curiosity, but his writing style makes it a pleasure to read.

The 40 sights described work out as an average of one every ten miles, more than enough to keep children interested during what could otherwise be a tedious journey.

Printed on good-quality glossy art paper and excellent photo reproductions, the quality of the printed book is well above many from the publisher and there can be no hesitation in awarding it a rating of 5/5.

The book is available to purchase from Amazon and Amberley Publishing.

We would like to thank Amberley Publishing for providing RailAdvent with a copy of the book for review.