NEWS - Full details of the proposed series of 'nuclear coast' steam specials which will take visitors to see the nuclear power station at Sellafield, why Butlin's are selling Royal Scot, Duchess of Hamilton and company, news of an airgun attack on Severn Valley Railway 'Santa' trains, plus a report on the many new passenger haulage records achieved by preserved railways during the run-in to Christmas.
IT'S THE ARMY'S RAILWAY ROLL-CALL - Longmoor has passed into history and the Army no longer plays the important role in railway operation that it once did - but it hasn't forgotten its railway past. Andrew Barrett turns the spotlight on the impressive but little-known collection of locos and stock which make up the Museum of Army Transport at Beverley.
GALLERY - December came, the atmosphere stayed cold and crisp, the sun shone for days on end - and Steam Railway's contributing photographers ended 1986 with some of the most rewarding winter steam pictures taken in many years. Here's a sample of what they saw ....
REMEMBERED, IN TABLETS OF STONE - In an intriguing diversion from Steam Railway's traditional area of coverage, Donald Norman looks at how some memorable events in our railway past have been recorded for future generations to discover.
MEMORIES OF THE TRIANGLE' - The roots of youth lie buried at trainspotting territories in every corner of the railway map, each particular haunt conveying something special to those who knew it. For the 40-strong gang of spotters known as The Mangotsfield Mob', the special place was Mangotsfield Triangle, closed and lifted many years ago, but even now still far from dead, as Richard Strange testifies ....
WORLDWIDE REPORT - Columnist David Thornhill reports on a new wave of tragedy and farce in South Africa - tragedy brought about by the dieselisation of the last passenger trains on Kimberley-De Aar, and farce occasioned by the new SAR timetable, which on one route demands average train speeds of 165 mph!
RECOLLECTIONS OF A NORWOOD JUNCTION FIREMAN - Today, Alex Godin derives his pleasure from showing visitors around the Bluebell Railway's loco shed and workshops at Sheffield Park; back in the 1950s, he found his pleasure at a very different larr of Southern stream -Norwood Junction shed. Here he talks to Gerald Siviour about some of his more memorable recollections, as a fireman at 75C.
MAILBAG - 1987 is supposed to be the year that the recently restored GWR 4-4-0 City of Truro goes back into Swindon Museum - but evidently, Steam Railway readers don't think much of the idea! You have your say on this, and other topics, on three pages.
THE GLORIOUS YEARS - For 20 years, Brian Rutherford's steam days negatives lay filed away in an old shoe box; rediscovering and reprinting some of them made him realise just how good the quality of steam was in the 1950s and '60s. Here he shares some of his picture memories of Newcastle, the Settle & Carlisle, the Cambrian and the Central Wales line.
TRAIN INFORMATION/SOCIETY MEETINGS - Your monthly guide to where engines can be found in steam - and where they are being talked about.
PERMANENT WAY ... AND NOT SO PERMANENT WAY - this month looks at the change which has come to part of the 'Cuckoo Line' -the former LB & SCR direct line to Eastbourne.