In September 1967, the last steam locos finished operations in the North East--the area where it had all begun 142 years before. The last trains ran from the engine sheds at Sunderland, Tyne Dock, and West Hartlepool, and were hauling coal from collieries to industrial sites, power stations, and docks for export or transport by coaster to ports in the south of England. The traffic had hardly changed as the original railways were built to transport...