Leader: Steam’s Last Gasp?

By the 1940s, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the steam locomotive’s days as the primary form of railway traction were coming to an end. Diesel and electric traction had proved their worth after several decades of gradual development and were seen as clean, efficient and less labour intensive than dirty, polluting steam locomotives.

However, not everyone agreed that steam was doomed, and work continued to make steam locomotives more efficient, more powerful and easier to operate, especially in countries with large reserves of good quality coal. In Britain, Southern Railway Chief Mechanical Engineer O.V.S.