Introduction

'Black Five' no. 44848 withdrawn and stored on Rosegrove (10F) MPD 6 April 1968

There are photographs by the thousand. There are also cine films, now available on video, and tape recordings, now issued on compact disk. Despite the plethora of documentary material from the 1950s and 1960s that has been collected, preserved and reissued, it remains difficult to capture the essence of the steam railway age. It was, of course, a question of at least four senses: to be experienced it had to be seen, heard, smelt and felt (and tasted?--I wonder....). Perhaps we all ought to do more to recapture those impressions. Here are some notes culled from my own memories and reading.