the bolton banker's tale - Would-be banker Tom Heavyside's choice of college was determined not by the courses - but by the proximity of the West Coast Main Line!
Go east, young man! - R.H.N. Hardy continues his absorbing account of the former Great Eastern section of the LNER with an examination of the two varieties of the 'N7' tanks.
air-smoothed steam: bulleid's SR light 'Pacfics' - Unkindly dubbed 'Spam cans' by their critics, the Bulleid light 'Pacifies' were SR mainstays up to the end of steam in 1967. Steam World salutes them in their original, air-smoothed form.
darkroom discoveries - Today, special night shoots are arranged for photographers. In BR steam days lensmen had to take pot luck after dark. We feature a selection of pictures from the camera of J.A. Oldfield.
platform - Correspondence from across the world, rounded up in our monthly readers' forum.
all things considered - In an age of mechanised cleaning and washing, insists Andrew Dow, there's no excuse for grime-smeared stock.
next issue - What's on the roster for the October issue of the historical steam magazine with a worldwide circulation of loyal readers.
sunday best from liverpool - The super-cheap Sunday excursions from Lime Street to the West and East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside are remembered by Peter Heath.
joint action! - By their nature, Joint lines guaranteed a diversity of motive power, and the GW/GC Joint was no exception. Long-time devotee of the line Brian W. Leslie takes a centenary-year look back.
enjoyable nightmare at clapham junction...that's author Gordon White's description of the scene at Clapham junction in the 1950s, with locomotives coming so thick and fast it was impossible to get all their numbers down.
the key To weymouth - With its street tramway to the harbour. Weymouth Quay was a classic location for photographers, but the town also boasted a busy steam shed and station P. Wootton recounts holidays at the Dorset port in the 1960s.
comment - Rail travel can still be an adventure for today's car-borne kids, contends Editor Barry McLoughlin.
call attention - The day the unfortunate Frilsham Manor came 'all wheels' off the rails in Wales is recalled in our monthly round-up of the arcane and the unusual.
steam twixt wales and england - Regular Steam World contributor James G. Tawse begins a three-part series on one of his marathon 'bashes', this time over the stunning Central Wales line.
great shot - Another piece of perfection from Keith Pirt, this month with a Southern theme.
great days at 'nottingham Vic' - In the second part of his elegant memoir of the former GC/GN station, David Page looks back on the winding-down of steam services in the area.

Front Cover: Early morning light shines full in the face of Stanier '5' No. 44703, storming by near Drumlithie, with the 6.20am Aberdeen-Glasgow 'stopper' in July 1966.