The Last Years of Overseas Steam illustrates John Whiteley’s travels around the world in search of operational steam after it ended on Britain’s railways in the late 1960s.

Stunning images capture steam trains working hard on regular services in a variety of settings and glorious landscapes, all showing the author’s supreme photographic skills and eye for the perfect image.

Published in January 2026 by Amberley Publishing and written by Adam Head, this soft-cover book measures around 23.4 cm x 16.5 cm, has 96 pages and 160 illustrations.

It has a published price of £15.99, but at the time of writing, it can be purchased for £14.39 from Amberley Publishing and for £12.39 from Amazon.

A two-page introduction describes how the author developed his interest in railways, and what prompted him to go in search of steam, initially in an Austin Maxi.

His travels, which were often challenging, both in logistics and with the authorities, took him to West Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Czechoslovakia and Portugal, and to India, South Africa, Turkey, China, Ukraine and the USA.

Without exception, readers will marvel at the images in the book and their pin-sharp photography.

The images below depict Class 01 Pacifics, many of which saw everyday use in both East and West Germany.

Of interest is the bottom-right caption, which explains that crews on trains from East to West Germany were prohibited from staying overnight in the West.

The pages below show images from Portugal and highlight the author’s supreme photographic skills with his choice of viewpoints, transforming what could have been photos of trains into them becoming part of the landscape.

Sadly, the trains below may now be part of history, as they were taken in Ukraine in 2004, where the freezing conditions were ideal for producing photogenic shots.

The detailed captions reveal the author’s skill in producing a book that is much more than just a bland collection of photographs.

The demise of steam on Indian railways happened surprisingly quickly.

Fortunately, the photographs below stir memories of what used to be, given extra emphasis by the lower quadrant semaphore signals. Scenes in India such as these are now mainly history, except on some of the hill railways.

Although many books have been published illustrating the end of steam railways around the world, this book must rank as one of the very best.

Unfortunately, it is constrained by its size, which limits the number of countries that could be included. Without exception, the images are of superb quality and wouldn’t be out of place in a coffee-table-style volume.

The amount of detail in the captions extends far beyond the ‘what, where, and when,’ often found in these types of books.

This collection of images will appeal to anyone with an interest in railways, as well as those who appreciate superb photography.

As an example of its genre, this book is outstanding and fully deserves a rating of 5/5.

The book is available to purchase from Amazon and from Amberley Publishing.

We would like to thank Amberley Publishing for providing us with a copy of the book for review.