Why preserve steam locomotives?
When steam trains were replaced by diesel and electric trains on British Railways, thousands of steam locomotives were withdrawn from service within a period of roughly ten years, from the late 1950’s to the late 1960’s. Only a few hundred steam locomotives survived the cutters torch. Many of these have yet to be restored, and indeed some may never be restored. Of those that are restored, only a proportion are available for use at any one time.
