IF there's one thing to fan flames of ire for any self respecting rail enthusiasts, then it is the demise of their beloved steam locomotive.

1968 was a black year as British Rail finally pulled the whistle on steam and put its stock in 'dieselisation.' It was in a decade which saw, thanks to the Government's decision to back Dr Beeching's recommendations, the widespread destruction of not just many a railway line at local and national level, but the dismantling of a whole infrastructure such as turntables, semaphore signals, water towers, country stations.

Those in West Devon of a certain age will remember the stations at Sampford Courtenay, Princetown, Bow, Mary Tavy, to name a few?

Alas no more, but how many today would argue in these 'politically greener' times that such rampant transport deconstruction should not be reversed.

It is with nostalgia only that enthusiasts can now indulge and remember when steam trains puffed with pride to serve the national network and were not be gawped at and clamboured upon in a static museum or at best, confined to a few miles of track in the more remote regions of the countryside.

A self-confessed supporter of steam locomotives, former Times journalist Roger Malone has compiled, as a 'labour of love', 'Last Days of Steam on the Midland Region — a personal photographic memoir'.

As Roger, deputy editor of the Times for 14 years, poignantly said: 'Time ticked towards an almost surreal extinction of steam, with a countdown as cold as the steel of a locomotive whose fire had been dropped for the last time.'

The book is compiled with pictures taken over more than 40 years, each plate captioned with a personal memory.

It unashamedly captures shots of the locomotives from speedily chugging along in its full glory past stunning countryside to others of a sadder life after being shunted and unused in a disgarded sideline.

More than 150 photographs appear in the book, including some of the author's favourite images taken after the official end of 'steam' when preserved locomotives, in pristine condition, returned to the main line hauling enthusiasts' specials.

For the true steam enthusiast this is a must and may even help to cool the vapours of indignation of the loss of such an iconic mode of transport.

It is published by Halsgrove, priced at £14.99. ISBN 9781 8411 4992 9

JOHN HUTCHINS