Richly illustrated with colorful pictures, the book Steaming Through Wolsztyn, tells the story of how Jeff Nicholls learned the historical skills needed to fire and drive the machines, and lifts the lid on the gritty reality behind his steamy passion.
Nicholls said: “Getting to experience real working steam trains all these years later was a dream come true, but my adventures extended far beyond simply driving steam locomotives.
“This is also a story of branch lines and narrow gauge, freight and passenger trains, diesel and electric power, and the Polish crews and characters who make the railway their life’s work.”
Western Poland has become something of a Mecca for enthusiasts of the age of steam. Railfans from the world over have been flocking to the town of Wolsztyn since 1996, when British enthusiast Howard Jones set up the Wolsztyn Experience to offer a unique travel adventure for like-minded locomotive lovers.
Nicholls is one of over 2,000 people who have made the trip to the Wielkopolskie province to make their dreams come true.
The Wolsztyn Experience allows visitors to live the life of the railroad as it once was. They get to indulge their passion for a week, learning the real-life skills of engineers and firemen on a real timetabled service that carries paying passengers at full steam.
But a once-in-a-lifetime experience was not enough for Nicholls. During his childhood in the English Midlands city of Wolverhampton, he fell in love with the local steam sheds and the fascination stayed with him.
For over 20 years he travelled regularly to Wolsztyn to drive the trains.
“The depot at Wolsztyn was a place of wonder which brought back so many childhood memories of the local Wolverhampton steam sheds in the 1960s,” he told the U.K.’s Express and Star.
“As a boy, I spent many happy hours just soaking in the atmosphere of these working steam depots, complete with all the grime and grit that went with the territory ‘back in the day’.”
He added: “Working on the footplate of a steam locomotive is far from glamorous; it is dirty, gritty and hard work— with an element of danger thrown in.
“It is very rewarding and satisfying!”
