THE GRAND FINALE OF
BRITISH STEAM
The year of 1968 was a pivotal year in a period of great
change and, with the march of so-called 'progress' that
included man being a matter of months away from walking
on the moon, the time was up for steam. The first week
of August was to see the closure of the final three depots -
effectively drawing to a conclusion the century and a half of
loyal service provided by a form of transport to which the
wealth of our nation owed so much. The steam era ended so
poignantly on 4 August, a day on which innumerable steam
railwaymen, most of whom had dedicated their entire lives
to the railways, were declared redundant.
This fascinating Little Book chronicling the last months of
steam on the British Railways main line is a tribute to those
final men and machines. Years of painstaking research by
Alan Castle, who viewed the proceedings at first hand 40
years ago, and interviews with drivers, firemen and engine
shed staff, have resulted in this authoritative and definitive
account of the year in which the final whistle sounded on a
steam era dating back more than 150 years.
BRITISH STEAM
The year of 1968 was a pivotal year in a period of great
change and, with the march of so-called 'progress' that
included man being a matter of months away from walking
on the moon, the time was up for steam. The first week
of August was to see the closure of the final three depots -
effectively drawing to a conclusion the century and a half of
loyal service provided by a form of transport to which the
wealth of our nation owed so much. The steam era ended so
poignantly on 4 August, a day on which innumerable steam
railwaymen, most of whom had dedicated their entire lives
to the railways, were declared redundant.
This fascinating Little Book chronicling the last months of
steam on the British Railways main line is a tribute to those
final men and machines. Years of painstaking research by
Alan Castle, who viewed the proceedings at first hand 40
years ago, and interviews with drivers, firemen and engine
shed staff, have resulted in this authoritative and definitive
account of the year in which the final whistle sounded on a
steam era dating back more than 150 years.