26) Waterloo Station, London. This is what is called the concourse. To the left are the platforms, and to the right, the booking offices, refreshment rooms and general offices. Behind these is the approach road. The passenger comes first to the booking offices, then goes out on to the concourse and passes the timetables in the middle of the open space: he then comes to the train indicator, and finally arrives at the platforms themselves. The station is arranged so that the passenger comes across everything in the right order.

Now so far you’ve heard what might be called the outside story of the railways. But there’s an inside story, too – the story of a whole organisation of which the ordinary man or woman knows little. British Railways, for instance, build almost all the steam locomotives they use...