A RAILWAY golden age may only exist in myth, but nostalgia for a more civilised era of train travel has never been stronger.

Commuters fighting for a gum-strewn seat on an unreliable sprinter service must yearn for the days of wood-panelled carriage compartments.

Those days are never coming back. But they are evocatively recalled in the second edition of a unique book.

The new version of Landscapes Under The Luggage Rack has been fully revised.

It is packed with reproductions of the framed pictures, advertisements and maps that kept the traveller company on steam-powered journeys.

Greg Norden's informed and accessible commentary runs alongside beautiful reproductions of these railway artworks, from the earliest days to the height of the genre in the middle of the last century.

This was a time when attention to detail was everything.

The competing rail companies employed a number of noted artists, profiled here, to bring a touch of class to their carriages.

Through the pages of this book, the reader is transported on a "carriage seat tour of Britain".

Mercifully, this is a trip you can embark on from the comfort of your armchair.

Copies can be ordered on 01604 830031 or via the web site www.carriageprints.com.

Recommended for railway buffs and art-lovers alike.

Updated: 09:14 Wednesday, March 06, 2002