E08D - Steam locos in use

Did You Know?

Personal recollections of railways

May 19, 20225 min read

A brief flirtation with Oil - Firing

Short-lived programmes for oil-fired steam locomotives stopped by costs. . . . . . 28XX class 2-8-0 number 2854, renumbered as...

Apr 28, 20225 min read

Forgotten Counties and Shires

The use of names of counties and shires were easy pickings for railway staff charged with finding names for their locomotives. How did...

Mar 9, 20224 min read

Testing Locomotives

Stationary testing at the GWR Swindon plant. . . . . . . Testing railway locomotive performance has a long history. As far back as 1818,...

Mar 2, 20224 min read

Testing Locomotives

Out on the road from Swindon. . . . . . . The GWR’s Chief Mechanical Engineer G J Churchward had ambitious plans for new designs and...

Feb 23, 20223 min read

Locomotive Exchanges through the steam years. Swapping and learning the lessons. . . . . .

The story begins in 1870 when two London & South Western Railway locomotives were loaned to the South Eastern Railway for two months. The...

Feb 13, 20224 min read

Testing, Testing

Recollections of the BR locomotive testing station at Rugby. . . . . . . I don’t know about your trainspotting years, if you had them,...

Sep 13, 20213 min read

Blinkers

The theory and practice of steam loco smoke deflectors. . . . . . . Those of us trainspotting in the last days of steam will know these...

Apr 7, 20202 min read

"Sludge"!

In the days of steam, treatment of water for locomotives was important to reduce scaling, corrosion and the need for excessive locomotive...