Steam Days, Gerald Robinson

In 1948 the newly Nationalised British Railways inherited some 20,000 steam locomotives and over the next decade constructed many more, including the 999 BR Standards.  And yet, within 20 years of Nationalisation steam was no more on the main line.

The seeds of the demise of steam were already present at Nationalisation, however, with the appearance of the first main line diesels and limited main line electrification.  It was, none the less, the Modernisation Plan of 1955 that sounded the death knell of steam.  For the next 13 years steam, along with many of the lines over whihc it operated, would be in n almost continuous decline until , in August 1968, BR operated its 'Farewell to Steam' specials.