The Southern Region of British Railways was one of the last parts of the national railway network to use steam locomotives from the days of the pre-grouping companies.

These helped maintain the atmosphere of each of the main constituent parts of the old Southern Railway well into the 1960s. In this DVD, Geoff Holyoake’s professional 16mm colour cine films bring the Southern Region of the 1960s back to life - from the Eastern Division through the Central and the Western Divisions.

Here we can see once again push-pull Hs and M7s, Brighton “Terriers” and Radial tanks, as well as the Pacifics, Moguls and BR Standard classes that all went to make up the most varied selection of steam motive power on British Railways in the 1960s.

Geoff Holyoake is a legend among railway enthusiasts. He was one of the small elite who used 16mm film rather than 8mm, producing films for commercial sale under the Meteor Films banner. His passion, skill and determination to capture the age of steam on film before it was too late ensured that, today, we have an incredible archive of footage showing the great locomotives, the historic lines and the beginning of the preservation movement.