Steam's new Dawn-by Robin Jones (Halsgrove Publishing) 31st December 2011

Britain invented the steam locomotive and taught the rest of the world how to build them. Then we discovered the skills all over again! History records that the last steam locomotive built for British Railways was Evening Star in 1960. The last steam locomotive built in Britain for commercial as opposed to tourist purposes was a small narrow gauge tank engine in Leeds in 1971.
However, that was not the end of the story. Since volunteers took over the running of the Talyllyn Railway in 1951, many miracles have been worked by enthusiasts in the heritage railway sector – not least of all the building of new steam locomotives. With the demise of the steam age and the advent of diesel and electric traction,many classic steam locomotive types were rendered extinct by the scrapman before preservationists had the chance to save them. That left many gaping holes in Britain’s fleet of preserved steam engines – many of which are now being filled.
In 2009, an all-new LNER A1 Pacific, No. 60163 Tornado,was launched on the main line – the culmination of an 18-year project started by a handful of enthusiasts who came up with the idea during a conversation about the good old days. Tornado captured the nation’s imagination, generating headlines on radio and TV and drawing crowds wherever it went– and even hauled the Royal Train after being officially named by Prince Charles. The biggest new-build project to date, it was by no means the first – and certainly will not be the last. Not only are new steam locomotives being built by enthusiasts to replace those once thought to have gone forever, but there is also a thriving steam-building industry producing modern day steam locomotives for narrow gauge, miniature and tourist lines.
In this fascinating and profusely illustrated book, Robin Jones, editor of Heritage Railway magazine, looks at Britain’s third century of steam building and the many magnificent projects that are not only ongoing but which have been completed to resounding effect.
A graduate of the University of Central England, Robin Jones, founding editor of Heritage Railway magazine, was a news editor and chief investigative reporter at the Birmingham Evening Mail, and over the years has produced several books and special publications, along with historical features for numerous other newspapers and periodicals. He has been interested in railways from a very early age, when his elder brother Stewart took him trainspotting at Widney Manor station in Solihull at the age of four, at the end of the British Railways steam era.
Imprint: Halsgrove. ISBN 978 0 85704 125 8 , hardback, 214x230mm, 144 pages. Published October 2011.

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