For many of us, when regular steam finished in the UK in 1968, our first port of call was Northern Europe &, as time progressed, the ‘jewel’ that was then South Africa. The country holds very special memories, but it is also worth remembering that South Africa was not the only country on the African sub-continent that operated steam on a regular basis.

The contributors, including John Allerton, John Gaydon, Malcolm Holdsworth, Robert Kingsford-Smith, Greg Triplett and Mike Tyack, are highly competent photographers in their own right and their work has graced many successful publications.

This first volume (in a series of three) features regular service operation of Garratts in Natal, steam in Swaziland, the industrial railways of South Africa and, finally, the brief renaissance of Italian Mallets in the spectacular mountains of Eritrea.

The second & third volumes, following later this year, will feature:- 

Volume 2 – Angola, Kenya, & from South Africa, ‘Bethlehem to Beaufort West’ & ‘Rosmead’

Volume 3 – Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Sudan, Egypt, Zaire & Ghana with a South African content of ‘The Garden Route’.