Three films by Paul Barnes that celebrate and regret the final days of steam on the railways – preserved by the BFI National Archive. 

In 1968, enginemen faced the last months of steam haulage on Britain’s mainline railways. 

For those who worked on the Black Five locomotive the inevitable progress to diesels and electrics prompted mixed feelings. 

The DVD also contains two other short films by Paul Barnes. The Painter and the Engines (1967) follows painter David Shepherd’s race against time to record on canvas the magic and romance of steam during the locomotives’ last weeks at South London’s Nine Elms sheds. King George V (1970) charts the history of the celebrated locomotive, which was taken out of service in 1965 but offered a length of siding at Bulmers of Hereford to continue running, in steam.