Abandoned Train Stations by David Ross

This is yet another non-fiction for the year, adding a little bit of joy to my reflection on this year in reading. I am further excited because this is not a topic I previously covered this year. I did look at train journeys around the world, but this was more satisfying.
This book is exactly as the cover, the blurb and the title claim. It is a book about abandoned train stations. Some of them were abandoned as train stations but later repurposed, some pending plans to put them to use for some reason or the other. Some of the locations were fascinating. I think it was one of the few times when I felt like a non-fiction work could have been longer. I wanted to explore more in every country since I am quite positive there would be several other stations with histories that the author had to cull to fit the rest into the book.
Each story brings a little bit of information regarding a country or culture not directly written. The way things turned out for certain locations tells a bigger story than the actual events. I am a big fan of trains, one of the things I relish about living in Europe is the ability to use trains more frequently, and this book ties up with that interest.
Even people with a mild passing interest in the trains themselves will be sure to find something to take away from this book. The trends, the architecture, finances and even complete cities becoming abandoned are all discussed here.
Not all stations receive the same number of pages, but for the most part, we do get a story to go with each.
I would recommend this to most people who read non-fiction.
I read this as an ARC, thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

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