Steam Train Britain S01E01 - Episode 1

22-year-old Sports Scientist Megan Smith has a dream: to become a steam locomotive Fireman on the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway. Under the watchful eye of 80-year-old Cedric Lodge, we follow Megan, as she fires-up NG143 and sets off along the 25 miles from Caernarfon to Porthmadog.

Meanwhile, 155 miles away is the much smaller Great Central Railway, which is staging its annual Goods Galore Gala – a chance for the paying public to enjoy the sights, sounds & smells of all kinds of rolling stock being hauled & shunted up & down 8 miles of heritage track. We spend some time in the original lever-operated Signal Box with David Bridges in South Devon…and see how lightweight plastic sleepers are slowly replacing old wooden ones back on the Ffestiniog with Alun Tomlinson and his track repair crew.