Steam Days

Steam Days is a monthly magazine dedicated to all steam railway enthusiasts. Each issue covers the six regions of British Railways: Western, Southern, London, Midland, Eastern, and Scottish, with the occasional article on Irish railways and the industrial scene. These well illustrated articles in the magazine cover the history of the railways of Britain from the early days of the 1800s through to the end of steam on British Railways in August 1968.

Steam Days

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TRAINS of thought

The ‘Cornish Riviera Express’ and its jubilee • Peter Kerslake recalls how on Thursday, 15 July 1954 he was determined to witness and photograph the 50th anniversary duties of the ‘Cornish Riviera Express’, and how, in just a few short years, the reign of steam on this famous titled service would come to an end.

Crewe Works’ pilot locomotives The ‘press ganged’, diesel classes and a timeline of change • Roger Griffiths and John Hooper continue their study of the dedicated fleet of pilot engines that served Crewe Works through to May 1968 when the allocation ceased, tracking changes from L&NWR times to BR days, while also highlighting the use of other locomotives ‘to hand’.

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Ventnor’s ‘first and last’ station Love at first sight • Opened by the Isle of Wight Railway on 10 September 1866 as the first of two railways to reach the seaside town of Ventnor, Andrew Britton enriches a historical overview with recollections of the terminus that took the ‘Town’ suffix in 1923 but ultimately proved to be beyond the financial reach of a British Rail electrification scheme, and thus Ventnor was abandoned by the railway in April 1966.

July 1964 – Steam from the S&D to the S&C … and home to Newcastle • An active month of rail travel and fell walking saw Reading University student G L Pallister enjoy Western, Southern, London Midland and North Eastern steam haulage across a range of services, local ‘stopper’, inter-Regional, and ‘dated’ summer Saturday East Coast main line express.

Scottish holidays by rail: 1949 • With a unified Scottish rail network created upon nationalisation of the railways, Andrew Kennedy considers how, one year on, British Railways promoted itself to holidaymakers intending to enjoy the delights of Scotland.

Readers’ Letters