The old work horses!

Heritage railway lines are now great attractions across the UK which are still expanding. But they take a lot of work!

I work from time to time on Llangollen railway in North Wales. The brunt of the work is done by volunteers from various backgrounds, whether engineering or admin. Of course the people heading up the heavy work such as the lines themselves are professionals from companies like network rail who choose to help in their spare time. Their enthusiasm for railways is never ending.
They're currently building the Betton grange 6880 locomotive in the engine shed at Llangollen and it's an impressive statement of engineering. The extension frame has been machined down by a face mill and the entire engine is taking shape with assembly starting to take place. It just shows how much it is progressing and the work going into it is of such a high level. Although a far cry from the days of the Swindon works buildings thousands of steam engines in what was the largest works in the world at the time.
But the engineering that went into these machines in the first place is so intricate and yet of such a massive scale. Not to mention that these companies were doing such innovation and building so much, but from records they hardly turned a profit.
However heritage lines are all over the place and are doing well as tourist attractions.  The line at llangollen draws a good crowd into town to ride allong through some beautiful valleys.  Headed up by steam engines chuffing steadily allong.  It may be a long way from the speeds they used to do being limited to just 25 mph but offers a look back in history to a time of manufacturing power in Great Britain.