Steam World

Steam World is Britain's best selling historical railway magazine. Covering the magical times when steam railways were the lifeblood of the country. It features first-hand accounts from drivers, firemen, BR managers and enthusiasts alike. Featuring magnificent photography from the fifties and sixties, it will bring back wonderful memories coupled with inside information of what it was really like to work, travel and play on the world's best railway.

Steam World

COMMENT

CALL ATTENTION

THE TORTUOUS PATHWAY TO THE END OF THE STANIER ‘PACIFICS’ PART ONE • The withdrawal from service in 1964 of all the remaining Stanier ‘Princess Coronation’ 4-6-2s came as a shock to many linesiders. For some in officialdom, the withdrawals were overdue. John Palmer explores the developments that resulted in the operating extinction of the Stanier ‘Pacifics’..

NEVER AGAIN — FINALE • Nigel Harris exclusively presents just 11 pictures from this unique collection of top quality photographs.

PLATFORM

STEAM WORLD CROSSWORD

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A BUSY EAST ANGLIAN SHED Part Two – BR days • Bruce Laws concludes the story of Ipswich MPD where he started work in the 1950s. (Part one – Steam World January 2022)

GREAT SHOT

A WYE VALLEY DAY OUT • Continuing his theme of articles on the Great Western’s picturesque branches and secondary lines, Chris Leigh, recalls a journey from Gloucester to Hereford shortly before the line closed in 1964.

A SUMMER RETROSPECTIVE, 1962 • Peter Fitton dips into his extensive photo-archive to recall a summer of steam 50 years ago, when ‘Pacifics’ by Stanier (in two classes!), Gresley and Riddles were all still in front line express service.

GOING TO SCHOOL ON THE OXTED LINE • In the era of school buses and mums with ‘4x4s’ we forget how many children of previous generations travelled to school by train. Colin Packham helps us remember…

THERE’S SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT MUCH WENLOCK • What’s in a picture? Howard Johnston tells how the same photograph, published back in 1962, captivated three authors who did not know each other. This article brings their stories together for the first time.

LNER STEAM ON SHED • Evocatively capturing the unique atmosphere of a steam motive power depot and its locomotives was a photographic art form in its own right. Nigel Harris dips into the Steam World archive and presents some great examples by Maurice Burns, Tony Butcher, Mike Pope and Keith Sanders. One of these MPDs survives even today, housing locomotives….York MPD is now the heart of the National Railway Museum.

REVIEWS

A Holiday to Ilfracombe • Surely one of the most spectacularly-sited termini anywhere in Britain, grueling gradients faced trains in both directions on the Ilfracombe branch. Chris Leigh first went to Ilfracombe in 1952 at age five. It left indelible memories.