The train on platform 1 ...

If you were listening to the radio at 8pm on 8th October 1938, the year before World War II started, you'd have heard the following words:

"As a bullet seeks its target, shining rails in every part of our great country are aimed at Grand Central Station, heart of the nation's greatest city. Drawn by the magnetic force of the fantastic metropolis, day and night great trains rush toward the Hudson River, sweep down its eastern bank for 140 miles, flash briefly by the long red row of tenement houses south of 125th Street, dive with a roar into the two-and-one-half-mile tunnel which burrows beneath the glitter and swank of Park Avenue, and then ... (sound effect of a train pulling into the station) ... Grand Central Station! Crossroads of a million private lives! Gigantic stage on which are played a thousand dramas daily!"

These are the opening words from Grand Central Station, a show that was first broadcast in 1938 and last broadcast the day after April Fool's Day of 1954. All of the stories had one thing in common; they all begin in, or in close proximity to, the wonderful Grand Central Station, New York. Sometimes it would involve people getting off the train, other times they'd be meeting someone at the station, and on other occasions they might just work in the shadow of the great building.

The characters are different each week. The stories are usually pretty light-hearted, often with a high feel-good factor, so don't be expecting murder and suspense.

If you enjoy radio drama then you're likely to enjoy Grand Central Station. It makes for a very pleasant listen. I've added one today and I'll be putting another episode up every two weeks for the next few weeks. I hpoe you enjoy them.

Happy listening my friends