Vintage rail film - Decades of steam - 1950s

This vintage rail footage from the 1950s portrays how the steam locomotive was seen as an anachronism that had to be replaced by modern power. However, British Railways had over 20,000 steam engines at the beginning of the decade, to which it added a further 999 examples - the well-known Standard types. This programme traces the last full decade of steam locomotive development by examining each of the regions of British Railways, and setting the scene for steam's final years.