comment - A new committee has been established to supervise the preservation of public sector rail relics. The Editor ponders whether they'll have much to supervise.
call attention - The opening bellcode for signalbox messages, one ring for 'Call Attention,' heralds another pot-pourri of interesting facts, figures and snippets selected by Nigel Harris.
please explain...Delving into our readers' mailbag, we answer another 'How did they do that?' question, and pose one or two queries for readers to consider.
'Schools' NAMEPLATES - where ARE THEY NOW? - Railwayana expert Ian Wright provides a table of known locations for the nameplates from Maunsell's popular 4-4-Os.
mainline points - Collect coupons and save cash. They've done it for years at petrol stations - now the EMAP rail titles offer you some special deals in return for simply buying your favourite magazines.
return TO peterborough - The first railway from London to Peterborough (via Northampton) opened 150 years ago. John C. Baker provides an overview, with map, of the city's railways in the 1950s.
reviews - New books and video programmes are given our usual thorough examination.
darkroom discoveries - John Whiteley has delved deep in his negative collection to produce another selection of previously unpublished prints.
testing THE forth BRIDGE IN 1952 -
In order to raise the weight limit on the Forth bridge to accommodate a 'Pacific' and j 4-6-0 double-heading, engineer Stewart Currie climbed to dizzy heights with some test equipment.
swindon IN 1954 - From the Aerofilms archive we have another breath-taking aerial view of a railway centre as it was.
mystery AT beattock - 1 - A two-part accident feature from Alan Earnshaw, Fire consumes two carriages of a Birmingham-Glasgow express, leaving unanswered questions for investigators and historians alike.
all things considered - There's nothing new under the sun. Andrew Dow considers the background to the present resurgence of articulation.
red carpets AND red faces - There's a law that if anything is going to go wrong, it will do so at the worst possible moment - like during a high-profile official visit. Stewart Currie remembers some occasions he'd sooner forget.
the old pull & push - Following last month's 'Please explain...' question on autotrains, we take a look at these photogenic little trains.
the steam world spiral quiz - Test your railway knowledge and tax your skill. You could win a series of railway books.
the 'patriots' - I REMEMBER THEM WELL. - Bill Ashcroft recalls the parallel- boilered LMS 'Patriot' 4-6-Os, a class fondly remembered by many but sadly missing from preservation.
my favourite things - This month, it's the turn of Steam World Editor, Chris Leigh, to provide a glimpse of his favourite railway items.
walk THE line - A rural nature walk in Wiltshire is the subject of this month's excursion along an abandoned track-bed in the company of Chris Leigh.
sounds OF steam - All you need to know about 'Steam Crescendo' the superb Peter Handford cassette tape programme given free with this issue.
platform - Thoughts on Steam World's new look and follow-ups to recent articles are among the letters in this month's postbag.
at THE platform end - Another novel view of railway life in the steam era from the Hulton Deutsch Library.

Cover: A driver prepares 'Manor' 4-6-0 No. 7810 Draycott Manor for the road at Aberystwyth shed on June 10 1963.