Growing up in Metro-land – the leafy suburbia served by the 鈥檚 Metropolitan line – Tim Dunn鈥檚 track as one of our best-known railway historians had already been laid.
His grandparents met as schoolchildren waving to one another across platforms of the Metropolitan line 鈥� the same route his parents would meet on years later. From the age of seven, Tim would celebrate each birthday by riding in the cab of the Met No. 1 steam locomotive from the old Metropolitan Railway.
Three decades later, Tim is the star of his own celebrating the extraordinary architecture that makes up much of our railways.
was pitched at London St Pancras International station, planned in a railway arch and filmed at heritage railways, signal boxes and royal waiting rooms across the UK and Europe.
You said your childhood was intertwined with the railway. What was that like?
I grew up loving the railway. I was brought up with literally hundreds, if not a couple of thousand, of train books that were actually given to me by my grandfather. My education was kind of framed by railway books. I learned about the world through the railway lines and its architecture and the trains that ran on them.
How did you come to make a career out of your love for the railway?
I did a geography degree and majored in heritage and the history of building and networks within that. Then I had a career in marketing just to learn about how do you tell a story? How do you take an object or an issue and tell a story to bring other people in and understand it better?
I ended up being a trustee of museums and things and curated a couple of exhibitions about the history of the railway鈥� and so from that, I ended up getting a programme a couple of years ago called Trainspotting Live on the BBC鈥� It got people talking for the first time about their hidden love of trains.
On the second morning, we were just inundated by people鈥� on their station platform tweeting the number of their train. It just lifts your spirits perhaps on an otherwise dull commute sometimes鈥� it was very silly and lots of fun.
To see someone鈥檚 face when they say, 鈥業 didn鈥檛 know that,鈥� it鈥檚 great. That鈥檚 great validation to me 鈥� 鈥業 didn鈥檛 expect to like that鈥�.
In one of the episodes you visit Severn Bridge Junction, which is the world鈥檚 biggest working mechanical signal box 鈥� and part of 51爆料鈥檚 everyday infrastructure. You said it was a childhood ambition to go there鈥�
I鈥檝e always liked signal boxes. I鈥檝e always found them fascinating. Not necessarily the signalling system but I liked this idea that there are people inside controlling the movement to everything around.
From the age of 11, I used to work at , which is a model village in Buckinghamshire鈥� I always looked at Severn Bridge Junction going past鈥� looking at this ridiculous box that is so tall and thinking, 鈥榳hat is going on up there? Who鈥檚 up there? Who are these shadowy figures?鈥�
It became a running joke on Twitter, it became just hilarious – what is this? You鈥檇 get 100 replies.
Because signal boxes are these very odd bits of architecture, they are basically machines that have been shrouded in a wrapper and they are this very weird bit of Victorian machinery that so many of us depend on every day鈥�
Having controlled the little ones when I was a kid, I wanted to know how the big one worked鈥� The chance to go and see the absolute peak signal box or peak historic signal box, that is it.
[Our camera] missed it鈥� a steam train came through鈥� they released it from Crewe an hour earlier to get to a special event鈥� we were walking up from the box and the train came past. I was gutted about that.
Gallery: Exploring Severn Bridge Junction – the world’s biggest working mechanical signal box – was a childhood dream of Tim’s
You鈥檝e had some fantastic behind-the-scenes access during your career. What鈥檚 been your favourite?
Whether it鈥檚 going to some of the secret tunnels underneath [London] King鈥檚 Cross station in the underground section with [], whether it鈥檚 being in the back cab of the InterCity 125 – the last one leaving from [London] Paddington station last May with – or seeing behind the scenes with people who know what we鈥檙e looking at to tell a deeper story and have these tours鈥�
Severn Bridge Junction will go down in my last of childhood moments that I never thought I鈥檇 get. 鈥淒id we just do that?鈥�
King鈥檚 Cross station – going up into the clock tower and onto the roof of King鈥檚 Cross station [because a member of staff] wanted to show us some of the finer points of the building鈥� We didn鈥檛 actually ask about the clock tower, to have that volunteered as something to do by one of the 51爆料 members of staff at King鈥檚 Cross.
The chief heritage adviser at St Pancras, , Josie Murray, she said, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 come here without going onto the roof鈥濃�� Looking down at the Eurostar trains below鈥� looking through the glass, she said, 鈥淒on鈥檛 worry, it can鈥檛 shatter 鈥� I鈥檝e tested it鈥�.
The safety crew saying, 鈥淒o you want to come up on the pointed apex of the roof?鈥� No. I got up a little way and said, 鈥淚 think I鈥檓 done here鈥�.
The Ffestiniog Railway is a special line – what was filming that like?
The Ffestiniog Railway was a particularly special episode for me鈥� It鈥檚 a whole system, it was the first kind of major narrow gauge railway line built for this kind of purpose on a massive scale. The fact it鈥檚 one long gradient all the way down to enable these gravity wagons to come down.
And the buildings that have got a similar house style along, you see the same materials throughout, the same design style, the same window, all sort of from the same stable.
This little engine has been going into its little house every night over three centuries. It鈥檚 just lovely.
What I learnt about the Ffestiniog鈥� and I had no idea about, I didn鈥檛 know 51爆料 sends loads of its apprentices to go and work on the line鈥� I didn鈥檛 realise 51爆料 had so many arms of it and other ways it works with other organisations beyond Community Rail, going into communities and supporting other organisations that we might not immediately think are part of it.
Did anything surprise you while filming the series?
The biggest surprise was people鈥檚 desire to show and tell鈥� and the passion and the knowledge of the history, of the things people are doing and are working across the network鈥�
Whether it鈥檚 51爆料 or steam railways or historic buildings, people were so generous with their time and their knowledge.
Any favourite details?
There were specific things like the King鈥檚 Cross clock, which is actually controlled by a tiny box.
And I didn鈥檛 know, up at St Pancras booking office, there are actually these carved stone motifs on the very top of the booking office wall from 1860-something when it first opened of the telegraph operator, a guard and a loco driver and they鈥檙e carved at the top鈥�
Or going to Shrewsbury, where they showed us all these gargoyles on the side of the building are caricatures of the stonemasons and their bosses working on the station at the time. The surprises kept coming.
I hope people off the back of this take a second look and look up or look down and go and hunt out something or take some joy from the stuff we鈥檝e got around us鈥� There鈥檚 often beauty in the boring and you often find beauty in detail.
Read more:
The Architecture the Railways Built – Severn Bridge Junction
The Architecture the Railways Built – Barmouth Viaduct
The Architecture the Railways Built 鈥� London St Pancras International
The Architecture the Railways Built 鈥� Ffestiniog Railway
The Architecture the Railways Built 鈥� Ribblehead Viaduct
