Steam Trains | Great British engines, railway journeys and steam enthusiasts
CHANNEL | BBC 2
FIRST BROADCAST | 06 December 1988
DURATION | 29 minutes 18 seconds
FIRSTBROADCAST
1988
'One disadvantage of train sets is that they aren't big enough.' So says Anthony Smith, who in this programme explores the history of the narrow-gauge steam locomotive network that has served the Isle of Man since the 1870s. Steam engines might have been phased out decades ago but, thanks to local volunteers, the Isle of Man's lines have been restored and preserved for the pleasure of thousands of holidaymakers each year.
Some of the footage in this programme was shot by the renowned photographer, steam enthusiast and former racing driver Ivo Peters. He took some 4,000 images of the Somerset and Dorset Line alone and shot 25,000ft of film about railways. After he died, a street in Bath that leads to Green Park station was named after him.
The atmospheric sounds of railways and trains from a bygone era.
Steaming down to Eastbourne with a canine passenger on the footplate.
The Mallard's swansong on the line from Grantham to Peterborough.
A lyrical memorial to some of the stations closed by 'The Beeching Report'.
'Diesel engines are machines, steam locomotives are practically human.'
John Noakes gets his hands dirty on a trip from London to Brighton.
Non-stop from London to Edinburgh - can the Flying Scotsman do it again 40 years later?
Reminiscences about Birmingham Snow Hill station in the 1920s.
Which hobby unites an airline pilot, a carpenter, a schoolboy, a diplomat and a science teacher?
Take a trip through the Yorkshire Dales on the Clan Line.
Join Michael Palin as he travels from London to the Highlands of Scotland.
A celebration of locomotion, from the Rocket to the APT.
Restoring the Green Knight at East Somerset Railway.
Travel on the footplate on the West Highland Line.
Visit the Cornish and Devon Riviera on the Great Western Railway.
A stunning journey from Fort William to Mallaig with a very contented train driver.

The story of the Isle of Man's Victorian steam railway.
Enthusiasts keep steam alive on Britain's tracks.
How the arrival of the rail networks changed the British countryside.
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