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The Railway Children, Waterloo Station, London, review

29.06.11

If I sound as curmudgeonly as the RMT’s Bob Crow having a run-in with management, then I allow in it. I admired the production for its fluidity and ingenuity when it opened three years ago at the National Railway Museum. I’m glad it has done well, but I can’t get out my hanky and cheer it to the rafters. E Nesbit’s 1906 novel is an enduring delight. The 1970 film remains a cherished classic. This is a charming but optional extra. The kids will probably enjoy it – my two, Lucas and Anna, did – but it would be a stretch to describe it as especially transformative. Yes, there’s genuine novelty and excitement to be had with Cruden’s steam-filled evocation of a bygone rural world: the audience gets ranged along opposing platforms with smashing reconstructions of an Edwardian footbridge and signalman’s box to gawp at, as well as the sparingly applied sight of a 60-tonne vintage locomotive chugging into view at critical moments.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Getting to the City: The Quick Way

01.07.11

By Claire Walla

It’s happened. My undying loyalty to wheeled transportation’s been put into question.

It’s not exactly the bus’s fault. The Jitney has been my preferred mode of transportation over locomotives since I discovered that the Long Island Rail Road only offers two inconveniently well-spaced Sunday trips from Penn Station back to the remote depths of the East End: one a-tad-too-early (11:45 a.m.), the other way-too-late (9:16 p.m.).

But as smooth and luxurious as the open road may be, my preference has been lured beyond tracks and wheels.

Earlier this month, I headed to the East Hampton Airport to meet Andrew Clark, co-owner of Fly the Whale, a relatively new sky-high venture with regular weekend service through that well-traveled airway between the Big Apple and the East End.

I had never been to the East Hampton terminal before. As far as I could tell, it was unofficially reserved for portly businessmen in seasonally light-colored suits and statuesque women in multi-colored, floor-length sun dresses and oversized shades, flanked by a pair of leather bags fashioned by someone with an Italian-sounding name. (I saw at least one of each.) Stepping foot on that tarmac essentially required a certain amount of disposable income ($990 round-trip on The Whale, to be exact).

Source: The Sag Harbor Express