As a child, David Plowden was given a box camera, and before long he began to photograph railroad trains. As he matured and started on what would become a lifetime in photography, trains—specifically steam locomotives—became one of his passions, and then they were eclipsed by modern diesel locomotives. It is our good fortune that Plowden was on the scene at the end, documenting what would become this book, his reverent tribute to the steam era.