London’s position as Great Britain’s Capital city ensured it had special status and nearly all of the famous, prestigious named trains such as the ‘Cornish Riviera Express’, ‘Royal Scot’, ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ and ‘Flying Scotsman’ fanned out from the Capital. Locomotive sheds such as Kings Cross and Stratford had a proud tradition and were renowned for the exemplary condition of many locomotives in their care. In addition to long-distance expresses London also boasted a dense suburban network, much of which was still steam operated well into the 1950s, and there were also massive marshalling yards to deal with huge amounts of goods traffic. Using the best available photographs from the collections of some of the most accomplished photographers this album vividly portrays the twilight of the steam age in the Capital from the mid-1950s to the end of BR steam traction in July 1967.
