Great British Steam - LMS 

The steam locomotive was one of history’s greatest inventions, and it revolutionised transport throughout the world. Huge numbers of individual steam locomotives were produced during the two centuries of its history, and in this series we see some of the greatest of them all - those built for the great original railway companies but which eventually went on to form the national British Railways. 

As the largest of the “Big Four” railway companies which went on to make up British Railways, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway had the biggest fleet of steam locomotives in the British Isles. Although it had a slightly shaky start in its steam locomotive policy, the appointment of the brilliant William Stanier as its Chief Mechanical Engineer in the 1930s led to some of the greatest steam locomotive designs of all time. His “Princess” class express locomotives broke many records and “Princess Elizabeth” and “Princess Margaret Rose” are still with us today, as are their successors, “Duchess of Hamilton” and “Duchess of Sutherland”. They can all be seen in this programme, attacking the main lines from London to the North-West of England and into Scotland including the majestic Settle and Carlisle line through the Cumbrian Mountains. In addition to these famous named trains, there are many other great LMS steam locomotive - large and small - on display here, from Stanier’s “Black 5s”, “Jubilees” and 8Fs, to some of the humble tank engines known as “Jinties” and “Pugs”.