Much has changed on Britain's rail network since the days of steam but there are one or two places where you still feel that the railway is still doing the work for which it was built. Chapel Milton is one such place. This Peak District tiny hamlet i

It's Tuesday July 26 1960 and the fourth day of my quest to see as many North Eastern Region steam locomotives as possible, using one of British Railways’ new Railrover tickets. I'd started in East Anglia and made my way north - via Carlisle. Overnig

The Annesley that many Steam World readers will remember was heavily influenced by its role in the movement of coal. Therefore, it is logical to start with a summary of how that coal traffic originated. The Midland Counties Railway had built the firs

I bought this picture because I like it and because I thought it would be a nice illustration to be used some time in Steam World. After all, who wouldn't love a ‘Collett Goods’ 0-6-0 shunting at some wayside station in the Forest of Dean? It was an

Back in 1962, you could leave London Waterloo at 1.10am (yes, ten past one at night) and, with a change at Plymouth and another at Bere Alston, you could be in Callington, Cornwall, at 9.09am. You would, however, have taken 45minutes to cover the las

As a now retired ex-British Railways platelayer, I have watched, with much sadness, all that has happened to the country's railway system in recent years in regards to track maintenance. However, I am in no position to pass judgement on those respons

Charles Collett and his team were surely confident that fitting a ‘Saint’ with 6ft diameter driving wheels would create a superlative mixed traffic locomotive. But would they have had any clue that the design would be so good that over 300 would be b

The origins of nickname ‘Super D’ remains unclear but the term ‘Superheated D’ dates from a London& North Western Railway classification scheme from 1905, whereby any simple (ie, not compound) 0-8-0 was described as a ‘D’. But the nickname persisted

I was fascinated by Terry Barber's account of life at Crewe Works in the 1950s, but I was also extremely puzzled by his reference to working practices in relation to tank locomotive repairs and the risk of injuries involved. He wrote: “We put manure

Spring is on its way, although as I write this ona dismal late afternoon in March, there’s not much sign of it yet. It is the time of year, however, when thoughts start to turn to sun, sea, holidays and getting away from it all… whatever ‘it all’ mig

Barry’s former docks area has been Btransformed in recent years. New houses line the water front. There are green spaces. Barry Island’s Pleasure Park has been completely restored and is now a thriving tourist attraction. There’s even a solar farm ne

I took upa technical post at the Mechanical & Electrical Engineer’s office at Brighton in the summer of 1960.I had moved there from the technical development office at Eastleigh Carriage Works. During my time at Eastleigh,I had been able to keep abre

UPWELL DEPOT: NOW UPWELL DEPOT: THEN DIAL HOUSE FARM: THEN DIAL HOUSE FARM: NOW OUTWELL: THEN OUTWELL: NOW OUTWELL BASIN DEPOT: THEN OUTWELL BASIN DEPOT: NOW OUTWELL BASIN DEPOT: NOW OUTWELL VILLAGE DEPOT: THEN OUTWELL VILLAGE DEPOT: NOW OUTWELL VILL

It was back in the 1990s when I was Iprivileged to borrow some negatives from the widow of photographer Carl Stratmann. I had this sequence of prints showing the preparation of a GWR ‘Castle’ 4-6-0 at Reading depot produced at the time butI don’t thi

It was the beginning of that momentous decade, the 1960s. I had never ventured into North Eastern Region territory but seven years of spotting at the southern end of the East Coast Main Line meant that I’d seen many of that region’s larger locomotive

It is one of my regrets that I didn’t experience rural branch lines in steam days. I grew up in 1950s East London and by the time that I was old enough – and had enough money to travel further afield – Beeching’s axe had fallen and steam was almost g

My story is probably similar to that of many other photographers after the end of BR standard gauge steam in 1968. There was still plenty of steam in Britain after August 11 but you had to go further to find it as it was no longer passing through you

The Stephenson Locomotive Society organised a special train for May 12 1962 that would bring a touch of excitement to the youthful enthusiasts of Callander. The train would run from Glasgow Central to Oban via Ardlui and the link between the West Hig

Building Nottingham Victoria station required demolishing some 1,300 houses and excavating 500,000 cu yards of sandstone to form a cavern, the same depth as the approach tunnels. Due to this, there were numerous vantage points to watch not only train

Yes but before you start cancelling your subscriptions, let us explain… British railway history divides very neatly into clear and distinct periods: the pioneering days, pre-Grouping, ‘Big Four’, British Railways pre-1968, BR post-steam and privatisa