Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 i Steam Days

CHOOSE WHICH STEAM DAYS SUBSCRIPTION SUITS YOU BEST 1: 12-MONTH SUBSCRIPTION BEST VALUE 12 print issues for £49 Direct Debit 12 print issues for £54 credit/debit card SAVE £15.80 2: SIX-MONTH SUBSCRIPTION 6 print issues for £26 Direct Debit 6 print issues for £28 credit/debit card SAVE £6.40 WHAT OUR READERS SAY ABOUT STEAM DAYS An excellent historical magazine with good articles and production values.ALAN NICHOLSON Go-to magazine for deep understanding of heritage railway network!SIMON POTTER A goldmine of fascinating interest from a bygone railway age.JAMES CROWE As railway enthusiasts we understand how to get the best out of a journey, and that same thought goes into each magazine as we travel around Britain through the pages of every issue of Steam Days. Stops can be to indulge in photographic…

In the beginning, God made many things, but He did not make railways; that was left to mankind. What kind of job did mankind do in the construction of the Glasgow & South Western Railway main line? This is an appropriate time for the question to be asked, for October 28, 2025 sees the 175th anniversary of the opening of the final section of the line and thus the birth of the Glasgow & South Western Railway as an Anglo-Scottish main line. In the early days of Scotland’s railways, development was in a piecemeal fashion in the Central belt. There were several small operations of local significance, dealing with mineral traffic, mainly coal, but also iron; little thought was given to the conveyance of passengers, let alone a trunk route…

A tale of three Saturday visits, the initial two trips were short and rather abortive attempts to cover the most intensively worked of the remaining steam-worked Great Eastern suburban services, with both spoilt by the weather. The first, on February 6, started at London’s Liverpool Street station as a grand tour in company with Jim Harrold, but while he persisted, after travelling on the Chingford line I returned home due to the miserably cold and misty conditions. Although it improved a little as the day wore on, it was still sufficiently bad enough to spoil things. Saturday, February 6, 1960 Liverpool Street-Chingford and return On arrival at Liverpool Street, we examined the station pilots, both being on duty on this occasion: a very clean Hill N7 class 0‑6‑2T, No. 69614,…

When the Taff Vale Railway was formed, the company established its locomotive works and running shed at West Yard, Cardiff in 1840, near Bute Docks. The original one-road engine shed was replaced in 1845 by a two-road structure, but despite modifications such as enlarging and rebuilding, the capacity was soon inadequate and it was converted to a goods shed; after a time, it was then adapted as a carriage depot and as such the building survived until 1926. A third engine shed of six-roads was constructed in 1857, but it was demolished in 1884 to accommodate Cardiff Docks station. That change was aligned to investment in a larger facility for locomotive servicing on a different site, the company in 1884 having built its fourth locomotive depot in Cardiff, at Cathays,…

Those of us privileged to have participated in the final years of steam on the Class 1 services emanating out of London’s Waterloo station were indeed blessed. For sure, although the condition and cleanliness of the surviving locomotives and resultant impact on timekeeping left much be desired, the scene that both I and a great many other enthusiasts witnessed would become part of railway history. If ever a class of steam locomotive exuded power and strength, the Bulleid Merchant Navy 8P Pacifics surely fitted the bill, a 30-strong fleet of locomotives. From the first impressions gained at the platform ends of Waterloo, I became addicted to them. Regrettably, it wasn’t until early 1964 that I (a youthful 17-year-old) began recording all of my travels away from a mundane commute in…