Trains Illustrated Magazine, Issue 34

Railway preservation continues to move ahead unabated, despite all the economic pressures of the present time. The development is on all fronts, as well, which suggests that railway preservation is probably a unique activity in conserving the habitat, architecture, civil engineering and vehicles of a transport industry. In this issue we look at main line operations on British Rail, a real success story, thanks to the hard work of the steam locomotive owners and operators, SLOA Marketing, British Rail management and, not least, the BR inspectors and footplatemen. Then, there is the notable event of a new transport museum with the imminent opening of the London Transport Museum, Covent Garden, London. There, an attempt is being made to relate London's railways to the story of the capital's transport and its people. Elsewhere in Trains Illustrated the diversity of 15in gauge steam locomotive types is featured, as is the background to the preservation of an interesting, if somewhat ill-starred class of BR diesel locomotives, and, lastly, a look at the restoration of a attractive Great Western station in Devon. We hope these features all serve to illustrate the vitality and range of British railway preservation and, to make sure, David Eatwell and John Titlow take us round many of the railways and railway centres in Full Steam Ahead.