Sussex Steam

Today, Sussex is best-known to railway aficionados as the home of the Bluebell Line, Great Britain’s first preserved standard gauge passenger-carrying railway, but at one time the sound of steam could be heard across the county. Many main line routes had been electrified in the 1930s but only the passenger services were affected and, well into the BR era, steam traction continued unchallenged on a variety of tasks, ranging from Bulleid Pacifics on long distance inter-regional expresses to diminutive LBSCR ‘Terriers’ pottering around on menial shunting duties. Some distinctive designs, such as the elegant Billinton K Class ‘Moguls’, were closely associated with Sussex and gave the county a special identity. Using some of the most evocative images available this album vividly recalls the closing years of steam in this much-loved county.