This is a picture of 44932 LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0. She was one of the “Black Five” locos and is pictured here passing between Hook and Basingstoke in the south of England on its run as the Cathedral’s Express.

Although it is more usual to have to go to restored lines to see steam trains running there are a number that run tours on main lines. Enthusiasts pay to go out for the day and have dinner served how it used to be – On china plates and by silver service.

For the picture a nice cold morning is ideal to get maximum steam condensing into the atmosphere and a good smoke stack. I shot this in RAW as it would be important to get as much detail as possible from the shadows and the highlights. The difficulty was that the dark engine was in shadow while the bright steam…