What are the wrong kinds of leaves on the track? At which station could you buy your ticket from a booth in a tree? How do smooth wheels grip smooth rails? Why don't locomotive boilers explode? What is a slip coach? How can a railway wagon be moved without a locomotive? Colin Maggs is one of Britain's leading railway historians and in 1993 was awarded the MBE for services to railway history. The author of over one hundred books on the subject, he has assembled a truly fascinating collection of quirky facts, unbelievable stories and staggering statistics about Britain's glorious railways from their earliest origins to the present day.