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Comment - The railways used to care about quality in every area of its operations. Chris Leigh takes railway engineers to task for not maintaining the standards of old.
Reviews - What’s new in the field of books, video programmes and prints for the railway enthusiast.
Oil-firing and the '8Fs’ - Engineer Stewart Currie traces the development of oil-firing equipment and considers its use and maintenance in Stanier's ‘8F’ 2-8-0s.
High Dyke photocall - A.E. ‘Dusty’ Durrant presents some black and white views of the steam action on High Dyke’s iron ore branch.
Call Attention - A CLC mystery location is identified and we've an account of the Blackpool Central station air disaster in this month’s communications from the signalbox.
Bromsgrove and the Lickey - Local enthusiast Clem Huzzey recounts the history of Britain's steepest main line gradient and the bankers which laboured there.
Station sights 1: The glory of long-gone Scottish station scenes from the colour collection of Nick Jardine-Patterson.
Letters - Oil-fired ‘ROD’ 2-8-0s and the latest update on the ‘04’ restoration appeal are among the topics on the readers’ letters page.
A Day in the Forest - Photographer John Dagley-Morris spent a day chasing pannier tanks in the Forest of Dean and took some great colour shots.
All Things Considered - Electrified railways have enjoyed a chequered history. Andrew Dow suggests we have a quirky attitude to the swift, silent advance of the traction motor.
Twilight of Steam around Taunton - In summer 1963 Taunton still boasted steam working on the lines to Minehead and Barnstaple. A six-hour spotting ‘bash’ was logged by Keith Strickland on the last Saturday of the summer timetable.
Rails in the Isle of Wight - A glimpse of some of the photographs from the new colour album by Robert Hendry featuring the chips, trains and buses of tho Isle of Wight.
A Silver Lining - Would-be Western Region photographer, Arthur Carpenter, had to make do with the LMR at Hendon, but every cloud does have a silver lining...
Railwayana Record - Chris Leigh considers the pleasures and problems of collecting railway posters and chooses a ‘Girls on the Beach’ theme.
Rhubarb crumbles - Rescued from the dustbin by Steve Ryszka, these views show the demolition of a Peterborough railway landmark.
Steam World binders - Dark red binders to take 12 issues of Steam World are available price £7.50 inc p&p from Steam World binder offer, RO. Box 136, Peterborough PE4 5HA. We’ve just a few of our Steam World sweatshirts left -the larger size only at £14.95 plus £1.95 p&p. If you’d like one, please give Lynne Best a call on 01733 898100.
Lickey incline 1946 - A great Aerofilms view of an LMS 4-6-0 labouring up.the Lickey incline, banked by two O-6-OTs.
Steam World Classified - The classified ads section is the place to buy and sell all your railway-related goods and services.
Cover: After working a Liverpool express, ‘Jubilee’ 4-6-0 No. 45717 Dauntless arrives on shed at York in October 1959.
Contents page above: A panoramic view of Taunton station and depot on June 14 1962. There’s more about steam at Taunton on page 18.
Contents page right: WR ‘57XX’ 0-6-0PT No. 3711, experimentally converted to oil-firing, at Swindon on May 26 1963. Stewart Currie examines oilfiring on page 38. Bill Potter.
Here we are again, with another issue of Britain’s best-selling all-historical railway magazine. This month we’ve some real delights in store, including a look at Bromsgrove and the Lickey bank which was once a magnet for those who wanted to see steam really working hard. We also have some vintage colour views of Scottish stations, most of which have gone or changed dramatically since these pictures were taken. There’s a technical look at the workings of oil-fired steam locomotives and an excursion outside ‘pure’ railways with a look at some Isle of Wight paddle steamers. I hope you’ll enjoy this very diverse issue. Steam World is far and away the best-seller among the historical railway magazines, and what’s more it’s the only one that has its circulation figures independently audited. We’re delighted that 1996 saw our leading position maintained and as part of our promise to advertisers we are happy to give Steam World sales figures in writing.
In January 1997 we further improved Steam World with four extra pages, a heavyweight cover and upgraded paper throughout. From this month Steam World goes a step further with a new glossy white paper while we’ve held the price increase to the same as last year, at just 5p. We’ve lots of exciting developments coming in the future so make sure you order Steam World every month.
CHRIS LEIGH
Editor.
