Your memories of Live Steam please.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

I travelled a lot on steam trains still in daily use when I backpacked around India in about 1980. Lovely to see and hear. But with all the carriage windows open in the Indian heat, everything inside was covered in black gritty coal ash. Pretty messy and not all that romantic. But it was a great way to travel.

I mostly went second class where you had a seat reserved in an alcove with half a dozen other passenger so always plenty of good company and some very interesting conversations. And the food was just amazing. You ordered it at one station, and a station or two later, an Indian curry feast was delivered to you from the station cookhouse. It was a moveable dinner party for sure.

Third class was a total melee. No reserved seating and they sold as many tickets as they could. So you had to fight for a seat, or even room to stand, and spend the journey jammed in unable to hardly move. And there seemed to be a less than endearing custom. Each little alcove had a small fan like a desk fan with wire guard around it, suspended from the ceiling. The preferred place for those sitting on the upper luggage rack to put their sweaty sandals to cool off was right on top of the wire guard around the fan, thus blowing fragrant sandal fumes over the passengers below. Unforgettable!

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Very vague memories of steam engines at Barry Station when I was a boy in the 60s.

My dad used to take us round Woodham's yard from time to time.

Was hugely impressed to see Iron Maiden at a show, first and only time I met a film star!

Plenty of memories of preserved rail.

Neil

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

My Dad worked very long hours and us kids rarely saw him. Sunday's were his day off (though 9 times out of 10 he'd still have to 'go in' to fix something!) however, on one when he was free I clearly remember him talking me for a walk, I must have been on about 4 at the time, which ended up at the level crossing on part of the Birmingham to Wolverhampton main line close to where we lived, and the quite terrifying site and sound of a massive (was to me at that age) noisy express appearing in the distance and finally thundering through the crossing. (They used to get quite a speed on over that very long straight stretch).

Funny how things stick in your mind, I can fully picture the scene now in fine detail, some 65+ years after the event! Left me with a real love of engineering & steam in particular!

regards

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