Steam Days is a 1986 BBC 2 television documentary series written and presented by Miles Kington

Miles Kington

Miles Beresford Kington was a British journalist, musician and broadcaster.-Early life :...

. Each episode is themed around the history of British steam locomotives and railways, particularly highlighting preserved locomotives operating at the time of its filming. The series consists of six half hour episodes. It aired on Public Television stations in the United States under the title Great Steam Trains. Two episodes, "Going Great Western" and "The Fishing Line" are available to watch on the BBC Archive website. A monthly non-BBC steam railway magazine of the same name is also available, but unrelated to this programme.

Episode list

Episode No.	Episode Title	UK Broadcast Date	Description
1	"Travels with a Duchess"	8 July 1986	A journey over the Settle to Carlisle Railway Settle-Carlisle Railway The Settle–Carlisle Line is a long main railway line in northern England. It is also known as the Settle and Carlisle. It is a part of the National Rail network and was constructed in the 1870s...  on ex-LMS Princess Coronation Class LMS Princess Coronation Class The London Midland and Scottish Railway Coronation Class is a class of express passenger steam locomotives designed by William Stanier. They were an enlarged version of the LMS Princess Royal Class. Several examples were originally built as streamlined, though this was later removed...  "Duchess of Hamilton" LMS Princess Coronation Class 6229 Duchess of Hamilton London Midland and Scottish Railway Princess Coronation Class 6229 Duchess of Hamilton is a preserved steam locomotive.- Service :... . The presenter meets Kim Maylon, the Duchess's custodian at the National Railway Museum National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...  in York for the engine's preparation for its epic trip.
2	"The Fishing Line"	15 July 1986	Miles Kington takes an LMS London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...  "Black Five" LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 44767 London Midland and Scottish Railway Stanier Black Five, LMS number 4767, BR number 44767 is a preserved steam locomotive. In preservation it has carried the name George Stephenson though it never bore this in service.- Service :...  from Fort William Fort William, Scotland Fort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles...  to Mallaig Mallaig Mallaig ; is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line , completed in 1901, and the town is linked to Fort William by the A830 road – the "Road to the Isles".The village of Mallaig...  on the West Highland Line West Highland Line The West Highland Line is considered the most scenic railway line in Britain, linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban on the west coast of Scotland to Glasgow. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of independent travel magazine Wanderlust in 2009, ahead of the iconic... , examining Glenfinnan Viaduct Glenfinnan Viaduct Glenfinnan Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Highland Line in Glenfinnan, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. It was built between 1897 and 1901...  and investigating the importance of kipper Kipper A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish, that has been split from tail to head, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold smoked.In the United Kingdom, in Japan, and in some North American regions they are often eaten for breakfast... s and dental drill Dental drill A dental drill is a small, high-speed drill used during dental procedures, usually to remove decay and shape tooth structure prior to the insertion of a filling or crown... s to the construction of the line.
3	"Workhorses"	29 July 1986	Examines the unsung role of goods engines Freight train A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...  during the age of steam.
4	"Quest for Speed"	22 July 1986	Charts the development of the fastest express passenger locomotives Express train Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...  from the Stirling Single GNR Stirling 4-2-2 The Great Northern Railway No. 1 class Stirling Single is a class of steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. Designed by Patrick Stirling, they are characterised by a single pair of large driving wheels which led to the nickname "eight-footer"...  to the LNER Class A4 LNER Class A4 The Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive, designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognizable, and one of the class, 4468 Mallard, still claims the...  4468 "Mallard" LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard Number 4468 Mallard is a London and North Eastern Railway Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive built at Doncaster, England in 1938. While in other respects a relatively typical member of its class, it is historically significant for being the holder of the official world speed record for steam...  via the GWR 3700 Class GWR 3700 Class The Great Western Railway 3700 Class, or City Class, locomotives were a series of twenty 4-4-0 steam locomotives, designed for hauling express passenger trains.-Construction:...  "City of Truro"
5	"Going Great Western"	5 August 1986	The history of the Great Western Railway Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...  from the days of Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...  and the broad gauge Broad gauge Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...  "Iron Duke GWR Iron Duke Class The Great Western Railway Iron Duke Class 4-2-2 was a class of broad gauge steam locomotives for express passenger train work.-History:The prototype locomotive, Great Western, was built as a 2-2-2 locomotive in April 1846, but was soon converted to a 4-2-2 arrangement... " to the development of the "Cornish Riviera Cornish Riviera Express The Cornish Riviera Express is a British express passenger train that has run between London and Penzance in Cornwall since 1904. Introduced by the Great Western Railway, the name Cornish Riviera Express has been applied to the late morning express train from London Paddington station to Penzance... ".
6	"A Tale of Two Scotsmen"	12 August 1986	Explores the history of the "Flying Scotsman" - both the LNER Class A3 4472 "Flying Scotsman" LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman The LNER Class A3 Pacific locomotive No. 4472 Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley...  and the train of the same name Flying Scotsman (train) The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...  running up the East Coast Main Line East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...  from London to Edinburgh Edinburgh Waverley railway station Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being... . This episode also evaluates the line's many appearances in film.

External links

• Steam Days at the British Film Institute
  British Film Institute
  The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...