It took me back to being a kid because what does not come over in the photo is the wonderful smell this engine had. Coal, soot and smoke; the smells I remember as a child - horrible stuff really. These were the kind of trains we all were familiar here in Britain, before they closed down a lot of the rail network, especially to rural areas.
As kids, one of our favorite things was to stand on a passenger bridge above our local rail line and dare to stay there as the train passed beneath. It was quite scary and of course, you were briefly enveloped in the smoke from the chimney and your clothes ended up smelling like this engine.
~ A.P.
