It's a difficult subject, steam nostalgia. All very well for us young chaps 40 odd years ago but a different story for the drivers, firemen and cleaners, not to mention the general public. To precis a paragraph from "Britain's Railways Under Steam" by the splendid John Snell -

"The Midland's main line depot in London was Kentish Town. One shed was partly roofless, following bomb damage never repaired. The engines came in, were coaled and had their fires cleaned, and lay by waiting their next turn. The wind blew their ashes, coaldust and smoke over a square mile or so of houses, and for 80 years or so these lay blanketed in silently descending filth. Then came the diesel, and one by one the steam engines vanished. Meanwhile, the housewives downwind began to find that for the first time they could keep their houses clean and put bright curtains in the windows."

And Mr Snell has been half way round the world chasing steam!

On the other hand, many ex railwaymen miss steam as much as us gricers - as another example see this splendid website about, let's face it, a filthy old dump with not a few extremely filthy engines near Nottingham -

http://www.annesleyfireman.com/index.html