Trains of thought
‘Brief Encounter’ at Achnasheen - Eric Stuart shines a spotlight on a long-standing restaurant car exchange at an isolated station on the Kyle of Lochalsh route, a very busy 15 minutes.
Steam Days at Chesterfield - The second largest town in Derbyshire, Stanley CJenkins MA provide; a historical overview of the Midland, Great Central and LD&ECR line in and around Chesterfield.
Steam Days subscriptions
STEAM DAYS in Colour 197: Retford - an East Coast main line crossroads - Famed for its flat crossing where the Sheffield-Lincoln route crossed the East Coast main line at right angles until 1965, we look at the interaction and we look at the interaction and variety of these two routes in the last years of steam.
Old Build - New Build GWR - David Bradshaw reveals how arguably ‘forgotten’ locomotives are at the heart of the recreation of GWR types thought to have been lost forever.
The life and times of ‘N15’ Sir Lamorak - The Urie and Maunsell ‘King Arthur’ class 4-6-0s were a mainstay of Southern passenger services for over three decades. Andrew Wilson uncovers the working life of one of the last at work.
Reviews
Tail Lamp - readers’ letters

Cover: Having just crossed over the GN/GC flat crossing at the south end of Retford station, Gresley ‘V2’ No 60896 nears the River Idle bridge with an afternoon up fitted goods service. Recently transferred to Doncaster shed, on 9 October I960, the 2-6-2 will soon begin the climb of the 3/2 mile-long Gamston bank, I in 178/200, past Eaton Wood, Gamston box and through Askham tunnel.
Contents page photo: Recently paired with the Urie tender from No 30785 Sir Mador de la Porte, Salisbury-based ‘King Arthur’ No 30452 Sir Meliagrance gets underway from Exeter (Central) with the 10.37am local service to Templecombe on 29 June 1957. It wasn’t until a board of directors meeting in December 1924 that a decision was made to name the hitherto anonymous ‘N15’ class as ‘King Arthurs’. The yet to be delivered new locomotives were to be named after Knights of the Round Table, with the pre-grouping order receiving names of persons and places associated with them, including King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.