Industrial railways have perhaps been rather looked down upon by some: they do undeniably lack the allure of the main lines with their famous locomotives, express trains, passenger carriages and all the other trimmings associated with them. But their importance should never be under-estimated; after all, industrial railways are really where it all began.
My personal association with them has actually been rather slight: mostly a glimpse in passing of an industrial tank engine shunting busily in the sidings at a colliery, perhaps carefully polished by its crew or maybe sullied by its duties and environment, superficially at least neglected by its employers. With one largely
