Tim Bryan worked as curator at the GWR and STEAM museums in Swindon for more than twenty years and is now Head of Collections at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon in Warwickshire. He is the author of seventeen books on railway and heritage topics and has written four titles for Shire. He lives in Swindon, UK.

Evolving from the horse-drawn stage coaches that they soon eclipsed, railway carriages steadily grew in sophistication so that by the end of the nineteenth century the railway passenger travelled in comfortable rolling stock of a design familiar to many until the 1960s. While modern trains look different from those built more than a century ago, even today the facilities are not so dissimilar from those enjoyed by our Victorian ancestors.

This book describes the development of the railway carriage from those early days to the present, highlighting some of the key developments in the history, design and construction of carriages. It also looks at the innovations that made life easier for the passenger, such as the introduction of heating, lavatories and restaurant and buffet facilities, as well as the differences in comfort between the various classes of traveller.