GREAT BRITISH STEAM - 5 DVD SET
 
The steam locomotive was one of history’s greatest inventions, and it revolutionised transport throughout the world. Huge numbers of individual steam locomotives were produced during the two centuries of its history, and in this series we see some of the greatest of them all - those built for the great original railway companies but which eventually went on to form the national British Railways.
 
Great British Steam - GWR 
 
The Great Western Railway lived up to its name and was in the forefront of steam locomotive development throughout the first half of the 20th Century. Its legendary engineer, George Jackson Churchward, laid the foundations of the massive fleet of locomotives which his successors, Collett and Hawkesworth, built at the famous Swindon Works in Wiltshire. In this programme we see examples of the very many classes which pulled the trains of the GWR and its successors - from the humble Pannier tanks which did the shunting and local passenger trains, through the various freight classes to the glamorous named locomotives which hauled the express passenger trains - the much-loved “Castles” and “Kings”. All live up to the title of “Great British Steam”.
 
Great British Steam - Southern
 
The Southern Railway bequeathed a wide range of steam locomotives to British Railways in 1948, including some of the most revolutionary types ever to run on the national system. The Bulleid Pacifics became highly controversial, whether in their original or rebuilt condition, but they were undoubtedly “great” locomotives and many of them are still working today. In this programme we see many Pacifics at work, but these were not the only great locomotives of the Southern. Bulleid’s predecessor, Richard Maunsell, designed some legendary classes, many of which were to bear ringing names dreamt up by the Southern’s brilliant publicity department, including the “King Arthurs”, “Lord Nelsons” and “Schools” classes. We enjoy all of these, together with many of the company’s smaller engines - great steam locomotives in their own right - which handled a great variety of traffic.
 
 
Great British Steam - LMS
 
As the largest of the “Big Four” railway companies which went on to make up British Railways, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway had the biggest fleet of steam locomotives in the British Isles. Although it had a slightly shaky start in its steam locomotive policy, the appointment of the brilliant William Stanier as its Chief Mechanical Engineer in the 1930s led
 
to some of the greatest steam locomotive designs of all time. His “Princess” class express locomotives broke many records and “Princess Elizabeth” and “Princess Margaret Rose” are still with us today, as are their successors, “Duchess of Hamilton” and “Duchess of Sutherland”.  They can all be seen in this programme, attacking the main lines from London to the North-West of England and into Scotland including the majestic Settle and Carlisle line through the Cumbrian Mountains. In addition to these famous named trains, there are many other great LMS steam locomotive - large and small - on display here, from Stanier’s “Black 5s”, “Jubilees” and 8Fs, to some of the humble tank engines known as “Jinties” and “Pugs”.
 
Great British Steam - LNER
 
The East Coast of England and Scotland was served by the trains of the London and North Eastern Railway, on which ran the glorious A4s - the most famous steam locomotives of all time, and certainly the fastest !  The title “greatest” must go to “Mallard”, the fastest of them all, and “most famous” goes to “Flying Scotsman”, both featured in this programme. But the LNER boasted many more great steam locomotives and here we see other A4s, include “Bittern”, “Union of South Africa” and “Sir Nigel Gresley” - the latter named in honour of the gifted engineer who designed them. Many other locomotives were built to his designs and appear in this programme, including “The Great Marquess” and “Green Arrow”, whilst his successors, Thompson and Peppercorn, provided designs such as the B1 mixed traffic and A2 Pacifics which are also seen here.  We also see the maids of all work classes such as the J72 and N7 tanks and the Q6 heavy freight locomotives. These, and many others, are the great steam locomotives of the LNER.
 
Great British Steam - BR
 
Great Britain’s railways were eventually all brought together to form the national system of British Railways. It inherited many great steam locomotives but continued to develop them to form its own range of universal or “Standard” types, incorporating the best from all the constituent companies’ designs. In this programme we see many of the products of British Railways, from the first - “Britannia”  - to the last “Evening Star” - through the backbone of the range, the class 5 and class 4 tender classes, the ultimate tank engine, the class 4 2-6-4Ts, the solitary “Duke of Gloucester” and the last ever working Pacific “Oliver Cromwell”. Appropriately for these universal locomotives, we see them all over the land, working on the Settle and Carlisle line, in the Scottish Highlands, on the Welsh Coast, in the West Country, and out of the Capital, London. The last steam locomotives of British Railways were amongst the greatest of all.
 
PUBLISHED   NOVEMBER 2025