Description

Late Light, Last Light and Into the Night. This three book series on world steam locomotive operations could have been called “going, going, gone.” … and guess where we’re up to! Night is upon us.

In our early years, the authors’ awareness of steam’s global p0resence expanded steadily and our ability to travel slowly grew. Steam was our passport to a very non-standard international experience. It was exceedingly rare for our locations of interest and those of the mainstream tourist sector to overlap. At times we felt almost guilty. We had been to a raft of significant countries and rarely seen the big landmarks, taken in the classic architecture or heard the best orchestras. But they are still there to enjoy.

For so many years of steam’s decline, there was always one more continent, one more country, one more system to visit. And nearly all of them were accessible, if funds and time permitted. Work swallowed most of our waking hours and money didn’t grow on trees, so we used our resources sparingly. Slide shows are a thing of the past, but online photo sharing with our fellow hobbyists confirms that readers and authors saw a fair bit of the world wide actions, but no one got it all.

Premium locations, exotic loco classes and the ability to combine them with the low lighting we craved to shoot them in are now forever beyond our grasp. Enjoy this last ride!