Puzzle Description

Doncaster railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in England, serving the town of Doncaster, South Yorkshire. It is 155 miles 77 chains (251 km) down the line from London King's Cross and is situated between Retford and York on the main line. It is managed by London North Eastern Railway.

It is a major passenger interchange between the main line, Cross Country Route and local services running across the North of England. It is also the point for which London North Eastern Railway services branching off to Leeds diverge from the main route continuing north towards Edinburgh.

You don't usually see spotters collecting on the platform for diesel and even less for electric trains. Of course each steam locomotive was more of a unique machine and usually had a specialty route. There was always a mystique around the lore of the British steam engine and history has proven the fascination itself harking back to the high point of the UK railway system.

In 1865, Henry Hughes, who was a timber merchant engineer, began building horse-drawn tramcars and railway rolling stock at the Falcon Works in Loughborough. His first company was known as the Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Ltd. Records are very sparse, but it seems that he began producing steam locomotives about 1867 for the Paris Exhibition. His main business, however, was tram engines, lightweight steam engines (usually with condensers) which drew passenger cars, made possible by the Tramways Act 1870. Among these was "The Pioneer" for the Swansea and Mumbles Railway. These were distinct from those tramcars where the boiler mechanism was an integral part of the passenger car. Amongst the first steam locomotives built there was "Belmont", which ran on the Snailbeach District Railways.