Well, can I join in the debate. Having fired steam engines when they really were nasty smelly, dirty worn-out machines and you did all the firing and cleaning yourself, no-one getting everything ready so that you just step on and drive as you generally do with the preserved railway, or when they are on the mainline. In my case I sort of went 'backwards' as I started in an All-Diesel Depot and then moved to a mainly Steam Depot, so I had already got to learn and see the modern diesel engines doing their stuff with the minimum of effort and enjoy working on them. It was like going back in time, coal and water, oil lamps, little brighter than a candle, to grope around the dark depots and yards in search of tools for the engine you had to prepare etc, etc. only to have them stolen by another Fireman, when you went off to wash up. Sorry, it wasn't fun. Then gong with a driver who got out of bed the wrong side or hated Firemen, or just the World, in general, and made your days and weeks a misery. Yes there were great moments. When you had got the hang of Fireing and knowing the routes better, you could have a good run and feel pride in a job well done, and a good driver was worth his weight in gold, after some of the misery's you had to put up with.
Steam still had a lot of technical progress remaining when the decision to end them was made and there was talk of a 4,000 h.p. steam engine that would certainly have been impressive, but the trouble with steam is that it takes a long time to reach maximum speed and once you do it is usually close to shutting off for your next speed restriction or stop. There were only certain trains and routes where they maintained high speeds for any length of time. In general it was pottering between local stations and goods sidings
But, when you got onto a bright shiny new diesel and started it up and then set off with a train and get the power you wan't instantly, with speeds a steam engine couldn't match, it was quite magic. While there were fast runs with steam, the diesel would reach the top speed much more quickly and maintain that speed for most of the journey. Virtually every express train was touching 100 mph throughout the U.K. You didn't have to be a 'Top Link' driver to run and handle such trains.
In the early years Diesels were held back by the fact that they simply replaced a steam loco, and the type of goods wagons remained the same, anything between 25mp and 45mph, with a few 50 & 60mph trains. many freight traisn wer estill 'loose-coupled, i.e. with only the locomotive and brakevan brakes to stop the train. Once 'bulk' load trains came about 60mp became the norm, with freightliners doing 75mph and overall weights increawed with 1-2,000 tons being normal.
The average speed of the railway really stepped up, and while a more modern steam loco may well have managed these speeds and weights, the running costs would still have been double or treble that of a diesel or electric train with just two men, or as came later, single manning. I remember reading back in the 60's where it was stated that every mainline steam loco cost £90 per day, just sitting idling on a depot or yard. Switch off a diesel and it costs next to nothing.
When I first moved down to England the train journey from Aberdeen to London was 11 hours, with steam loco changes on the way. The Deltics improved that considerably but the real change was with the HST's that brought the journey to a little more than 7 hours, which remains today, even if you travel via the West Coast. I was working at Marylebone Diesel Depot when the HST's came in and my one and a half hour journey too and from work was reduced to the bare hour. You had to experience those changes to appreciate the difference between steam and diesel.
So, it would seem. that the fondness for one traction over another is mainly nostalgic, or in the case of steam, it's pretty to watch, and you can see the moving parts. Believe me, there are many, many more working parts within a diesel and some just as intricate as a steam loco. For the practical railway it just has to be Diesel or electric, so the best thing is to enjoy both for what they are and each in their place and not put them on a competitive level. Personally, I would not like to see steam back, especially if they were still much the same as in the past, and if they were to spend £Billions just to tart new steam engines up to look and perform like a diesel or an electric loco , then why bother, you already have the patent to do the job, and much more economically.
Cheers.
BillEWS.