Steam Days
Steam Days is a 1986 BBC 2 television documentary series written and presented by Miles Kington. Each episode is themed around the history of British steam locomotives and railways, particularly highlighting preserved locomotives operating at the time of its filming.[1] 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.[2][3] The whole series subsequently became available to watch on the BBC iPlayer.[4] but until 8 December 2017 and is currently not available.
| Steam Days | |
|---|---|
 End title card | |
| Starring | Miles Kington |
| Composer(s) | Roger Limb |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Neil Cameron Peter Walton |
| Running time | 30 min |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | 8 July – 12 August 1986 |
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 on ex-LMS Princess Coronation Class Duchess of Hamilton. The presenter meets Kim Maylon, the Duchess's custodian at the National Railway Museum in York for the engine's preparation for its epic trip. |
| 2 | "The Fishing Line" | 15 July 1986 | Miles Kington takes an LMS "Black Five" from Fort William to Mallaig on the West Highland Line, examining Glenfinnan Viaduct and investigating the importance of kippers and dental drills to the construction of the line. |
| 3 | "Workhorses" | 29 July 1986 | Examines the unsung role of goods engines during the age of steam. |
| 4 | "Quest for Speed" | 22 July 1986 | Charts the development of the fastest express passenger locomotives from the Stirling Single to the LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard via the GWR 3700 Class City of Truro |
| 5 | "Going Great Western" | 5 August 1986 | The history of the Great Western Railway from the days of Brunel and the broad gauge "Iron Duke" to the development of the "Cornish Riviera". |
| 6 | "A Tale of Two Scotsmen" | 12 August 1986 | Explores the history of the "Flying Scotsman" - both the LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman and the train of the same name running up the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh. This episode also evaluates the line's many appearances in film. |
VHS releases
| # | VHS name | Release date | Episode story |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travels with a Duchess | 11 October 1986 | Includes: Travels with a Duchess, and The Fishing Line. |
| 2 | Workhorses | 6 January 1987 | Includes: Workhorses, and Going Great Western.
Despite a third volume being advertised on the end of the second release, it was never released. |
DVD releases
| # | DVD name | Release date | Episode story |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legends of Steam: The Flying Scotsman | 7 January 2004 | Includes: A Tale of Two Scotsmen. |
References
- "Obituary: Miles Kington", Daily Telegraph, 1 February 2008
- "Going Great Western", BBC Archive, bbc.co.uk
- "The Fishing Line", BBC Archive, bbc.co.uk
- Episodes, BBC Programmes, bbc.co.uk
External links
- Steamy Days on IMDb
- Complete series at BBC Programmes
- Steam Days at the British Film Institute