#449 • The Best of the Last Days of Steam

Part of November 2026 Railroad Book and Slide Auction (timed auction by Rail & Road Auctions)

Starting at $1.00

Status: Available

Bidding closes Nov 30, 2026 6:51 PM EST

In its heyday, the variety of steam on Britain's railways was unrivalled - from thundering express trains to hard-working tank engines - and it offered a tremendous range of possibilities for the enthusiastic steam photographer. The Best of The Last Days of Steam brings together the pick of this wealth of images captured during the 1950s and early 1960s, the last years when 'railways' still meant 'steam'. Famous companies and engines are represented alongside small branch services and behind-the-scenes views of locomotive sheds. The photographs are reproduced in high quality duotone and accompanied by informative captions conveying something of the feeling and atmosphere of those heady days. Often the backdrops and glimpses of railway life are almost as interesting as the locomotives themselves, ranging from country stations to busy London terminii and from isolated mountain routes to intricate urban junctions - all of this is captured on film. The result is a superb and evocative collection of well over a hundred photographs, drawn from all over the British Isles, providing a marvellous wide-ranging record of an era now gone and lost for ever. It will be of interest to all railway enthusiasts and to everyone who retains a nostalgia for the last days of steam. Colin Gordon Maggs