The sight of a train crew signing autographs and people climbing signal pylons for a better view suggests this was no ordinary journey.

Rail enthusiast Brian Irwin recalls the scene at Carlisle Station: "They ran out of platform tickets - they just let everybody on. There'd be 2,000 people there. They were climbing up the signals."

It took something momentous to provoke such scenes: the end of the age of steam.

This was the summer of 1968. Steam engines had been phased out from the British Rail network during the previous decade in favour of diesel.

They were about to be banned altogether.

Steam trains were no longer part of the regular timetable. The previous weeks had seen steam-powered charter trains run on various lines around the country as enthusiasts - which included much of the general public - said goodbye to this romantic form of transport.

The last of these specials ran on August 11, 1968: 50 years ago today. It was a return from Liverpool Lime Street to Carlisle.

Brian filmed the scenes at Carlisle Station that Sunday afternoon as the Britannia Class 70013 Oliver Cromwell arrived in the Border City.

The demand for a seat on this historic journey was evident in the train's ticket price. It was nicknamed 'the 15 Guinea Special'.

Fifteen guineas in 1968 is equivalent to more than £250 today.

Brian, 76, recalls the background to the demise of steam.

"British Rail decided steam didn't have a place on modern railways. They had diesels from the 1940s and a lot more from the mid-1950s.

"By 1961 they'd started withdrawing the Mallard class [of steam locomotives]. What surprised us was how quickly steam went. We thought it would take 20 years. It took less than nine years to get rid of everything."

The 1960s was a time of sweeping away the past. This could be seen in town planning, with streets demolished to make way for tower blocks and dual-carriageways built through town centres.

In 1963 future Prime Minister Harold Wilson spoke of the "white heat" of the technological revolution, and there being no place for "outdated methods".

Steam was clearly seen as part of this old-fashioned and unwanted world, by the authorities if not by the public.

The ban on steam from the British Rail network came into force the day after the 15 Guinea Special.

Steam had already been barred from the West Coast Main Line. This final journey was via Manchester on the Settle-Carlisle line.

The Oliver Cromwell pulled its maroon coaches into Carlisle Station's Platform 3 at 15.29, 33 minutes late.

This meant it stayed for only 15 minutes before departing at 15.44, after the locomotive had been changed for the return leg.

Brian recalls: "Although it was the last steam train, the atmosphere was more like excitement. Especially for the younger generation. We thought it was the last time we might see a steam train other than on a preserved railway.

"When it left you heard people say things like 'That's it, son. You might never see another steam train now.'"

Despite the public's affection for steam trains, Brian says there was no major protest movement against their demise.

"In them days there wasn't the network there is now for getting things kept. Even with the closure of the Silloth line [in 1964], there wasn't big demonstrations. But there was a large number of people trying to persuade British Rail that they should be kept."

It was widely believed that steam would never be allowed back onto the network and that privately owned heritage railways would be the only place to see steam locos in operation.

But steam was reintroduced to British Rail lines just three years later when the ban was lifted.

Since then privately-run charters have been allowed to use the network by arrangement, subject to timetabling capacity.

An example is the two steam charter trains due at Carlisle Station today.

The Cumbrian Mountain Express and The Waverley will both be stopping in the Border City.

Steam charters arrive there on many summer Saturdays, as does The Dalesman on numerous Mondays and Tuesdays.

There have been two re-enactments of the 15 Guinea Special, in 2008 and 2013.

Brian is sad that there will not be one today.

"Unfortunately nobody has bothered to do the re-enactment. They couldn't get the same engines. The locomotives involved have no main line certificates as they are running preserved railways."

Great Central Railway, a heritage line in Leicestershire, is today holding an End of Steam gala featuring one of the engines that hauled the 15 Guinea Special. Four were used during the various legs of the journey.

As for the British public's ongoing love of steam, Brian says:

"Thank goodness for Thomas the Tank Engine, Harry Potter and Tornado [Britain's first new main line steam locomotive for almost 50 years, financed by donations and operating since 2008].

"Without them, the new generations would be finding other things to do.

"When you go to the station and you see all the kids looking at the steam trains, although some of them are frightened of steam.

"The love of steam and the golden age of steam... you wouldn't say that if you were working on the dirty old things."

Cedric Martindale, a railway engineer from Carlisle, runs the campaign to restore the Keswick to Penrith line, which closed in 1972.

Cedric remembers the demise of steam on the British Rail network.

"I was living in East Anglia at the time, which had gone all diesel much earlier, in about 1963. I was aware of the specials marking the end of steam, but it seemed somewhat distant and unreal."

Why does he think steam has such enduring appeal?

"Steam locomotives have a deep connection with many people through seeming to be 'alive' - hissing steam, groaning, roaring and throwing out smoke, ash and embers.

"The atmosphere inside a passenger carriage heated by steam is also different: much cosier than any electrically powered air conditioning system.

"For many people a couple of generations ago, train travel was a luxury reserved for summer holidays and special visits, before international air travel became commonplace.

"All these things create a nostalgia focusing on the nice aspects of steam-powered railways.

"The reality for the people who had to look after those hungry, quirky steel monsters was rather different with cramped, hot, noisy and uncomfortable working conditions.

"Of course, adverse conditions also create heroes and legends."