rains of Thought
Remembering 1955 a€ Fifty years on - Following the brief review of the events of 1954 which appeared in the May 2004 issue of STEAM DAYS magazine, your Editor, Rex Kennedy, now looks back fifty years to 1955 and the railway scene during that year, and recalls other notable happenings during everyday life in that year.
Northumberland's Rothbury Branch (NBR) - David Anderson provides a brief illustrated history of an NBR branch line in Northumberland which left the Morpeth to Reedsmouth Wansbeck Valley Railway at Scotsgap.
STEAM DAYS in Colour a€" 5: Oxenhoime to Shap Summit - In the fifth of our NEW MONTHLY THEMATIC 'ALL-COLOUR' PHOTO-FEATURES depicting the work of some of the top exponents of colour photography in the railway field, this month Michael Chapman takes us over Grayrigg and Shap on the West Coast main line where he captured many evocative scenes on film in the 1960s.
The 'Cauliflowers' a€" Webb's L&NWR Express Goods 0-6-0s - W. A. T. Aves provides a detailed study of the 18-inch 0-6-0 'Cauliflower Goods' engines introduced for the L&NWR from the 1880s, some later rebuilt with Belpaire boilers, with the last of these engines being withdrawn fifty years ago, in 1955.
Steam Days at Maidstone - Stanley Jenkins takes a look at the history of a rail centre in Kent which, in the days of steam, was once served by the SE&CR and its constituent companies, and describes the railway scene from those early days to the demise of steam in BR days, detailing the motive power and traffic that could be witnessed.
Tail Lamp a€" Readers' Letters

Cover: This month In our 'ALL COLOUR' photo-feature we take a look at the area on the West Coast main line between Oxenholme and Shap, with scenes from the camera of Michael Chapman. In this scene. Stanier '8F' 2-8-0 No 48730 is pictured pounding up the bank, north of Oxenholme, to Grayrigg with a northbound freight train in September 1964.