The train stations that don’t really exist

In 1964, as part of his railway cuts, Dr Beeching ordered the closure of Duncraig, a small, little-used station in the Scottish Highlands. The train drivers working the line simply ignored him. They continued to stop there, and the station remains open to this day.

A world where nothing ever changes, or indeed happens — this is just the sort of world that appeals to Dixe Wills. His latest travelogue takes in 38 of the 150 or so remaining ‘request’ stops on Britain’s railway network. I didn’t know such things existed at all, but apparently there they are (including Duncraig), only seeing action as and when a passenger informs the guard accordingly. Look at a timetable and you’ll see they’re denoted by an ‘x’ — for example, ‘13×04’ rather than ‘1304’.

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The thing about nothing ever happening, at least when it comes to books, is that it puts you totally in the hands of the author.