The day after steam ended

IT WAS Monday, August 12, 1968. On the previous day, the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ had ended 150 years of steam traction on Britain’s main line railways. Everyone knew August 11, 1968 would go down in history.

The events of that day would no doubt be recalled at significant anniversaries for goodness knows how long. But would anyone remember what they did on the day after steam stopped? My notebook and photographs have ensured that I, for one, have not forgotten.

I’d not planned to head north from my home in Hertfordshire to see the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ until the end of July, when I received a phone call from Colin Gifford, who I had known since we worked together at Ian Allan Ltd some years earlier. It was his suggestion we made an extended weekend of it, staying a couple of nights