Decline and Return to Mainline Steam

During the 1960s, British Railways withdrew its thousands of steam locomotives from the national network. The process started gradually in the early 1960s but accelerated towards the end of the decade so that by 1968 the last steam-operated trains had ceased. The decade also saw a wave of line closures in an effort to make the railways more economical to run. However, railtours in the 1960s allowe...