At the start of Agatha Christie’s “4:50 from Paddington,” which way would the train have been travelling?

At the start of this Christie crime novel Mrs Elspeth McGillicuddy is on her way from a shopping expedition to visit her old friend Jane Marple. Her train leaves London and, as it passes another going in the same direction, she witnesses a murder in progress on the other train. Needless to say, once she arrives at Miss Marple's cottage, there is much more to talk about than just the smoothness of the railway journey...

As the book title suggests, the story begins when the train is leaving Paddington Station, a large rail terminus in London. Paddington is located in the west of central London and the station dates back to 1854, when it was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway. It is now used principally for services by the modern Great Western Railway. In the period 1948-1992, when the railways were under national ownership, it was the principal station of the Western Region.

It is clear, from these company names and from the station’s location within London, that the main purpose of Paddington Station was to provide rail services westward, to the West and Southwest of England and to Wales. So, all the services out of Paddington travel in the same direction when they leave London: westwards.