We’re heading into a momentous year for railway preservation as the Talyllyn Railway marks 75 years since it was saved from almost certain extinction to become the first heritage railway. But how did the concept of railway preservation emerge and develop? MARK PEARCE digs deeper.

FIRELESS LOCOMOTIVES – PART ONE

Chugging and chuffing their way around heritage lines across the country, steam locomotives continue to capture our imagination, says Octavia Pollock

Although some perceived the advent of the locomotive as a threat to the countryside, by allowing artists a quick and easy way to travel, it broadened their choice of painting horizons, discovers Carla Passino

The railway revolution opened up new destinations, expanded our culinary horizons and dramatically improved trade. Jonathan Self takes us on a whistle-stop tour of ‘railway mania’

Overhauls, restorations and running notes