Small railways and the steam engines that ran on them were once the driving force of Britain’s mines, quarries, factories and docks. Then, as they disappeared after 1945, volunteers set to work to bring the lines and the steam engines back to life.

When steam started to disappear in the 1950’s, bands of volunteers got together to save some of the tracks and the steam engines that ran on them. The home movies they shot tell the story of how they did it, and how they helped people to reconnect to a world of steam almost lost forever.