at the heart of old oak - For a young enthusiast, a holiday job at Old Oak Common depot was little short of paradise, as David Maidment recalls in a new series about his experiences of life at the key Western Region shed.
steam: from sonny & cher TO ike & tina - Steam World launches a major new series on the railways of Scotland with an account by Raul Cooper of his visits to Stirlingshire in the mid-1960s.
redhill rediscovered - As a South Eastern depot in LBSCR territory, Redhill was something of a curiosity, but an interesting one, as Paul Leavens recounts in part one of an article about his visits to the shed from the mid-1940s.
the midland in its homeland - The Midland Railway grew into a massive enterprise with interests throughout the British Isles but, in yet another new series, John Clarke reminds us that its heartlands always remained the coalfields of the industrial East Midlands.
comment - Marathon railtours with complex itineraries and highly varied motive power were one of the most distinctive features of the steam era, according to the Editor.
call attention - Our search for possible encounters between namesake locomotives continues to exercise readers' imaginations, and we reunite yet another pair of old spotting friends after more than half a century.
what, where, when? - As promised last month, we pick not one but two winners of our monthly test of readers' railway knowledge.
darkroom discoveries - Boring? Standardised? Unprofitable? Stung by accusations about lack of variety on the Great Western, Donald Lovelock presents a selection of pictures that show GW branches were varied and did earn their keep.
A 'stranger' strolls down stewarts lane - In 1953 a broken crank axle on No. 35020 Bibby Line led to the temporary withdrawal for testing of the SR's Bulleid 'Pacifies'. Their replacements included former LNER 'B1s', which were a welcome surprise for Stewarts Lane Shedmaster R.H.N. Hardy, as he explains in part eight of his series.
steam on the seafront: the 'sands express' - Blackpool had many attractions by the start of the 20th century, but Barry Shaw explains how an improvised railway along the seafront stole all the headlines in early 1911.
platform - Another four-page Platform section is headed by a cluster of letters about 'Clan' workings south of the Border, the subject of David Rapson's well- received article in the August issue.
steam's the theme - Steam World regular Neville Stead recalls visits by Bulleid 'Pacifies' to Yorkshire, from the 1948 Locomotive Exchanges to the preservation era.
the 'solway ranger' recalled - This is the item that prompted the Editor's musings in Comment; it is written by several enthusiasts and railwaymen involved in the 1964 tour from Leeds to Carlisle and along the Silloth branch.
all things considered - Our highly respected columnist Andrew Dew, former Head of the National Railway Museum, offers another slice of authoritative opinion on a matter of interest to all steam enthusiasts.
great shot! - We again open our monthly showcase of the best in steam colour photography.
top link on the ECML - Incidents in which the communication cord was pulled - sometimes not for the most genuine of reasons - are examined in the penultimate part of the memoirs of former East Coast Main Line fireman Chris Howden.
next issue - Look ahead with our monthly preview of what's rostered to appear in the next issue of Britain's top- selling historical railway magazine. Don't miss your copy - phone an order with your newsagent or take Out a subscription - see page 63.

Cover - Its August 30 1964 and BR '2MT' 2-6-0 - the smallest of the Riddles 'Standard' classes - No. 78039 stands in the sun at Willesden shed, awaiting the call to duty.