Steam trains are some of the oldest forms of mechanized land transportation.
They had their inception in the United Kingdom in the 1800s, and became obsolete in the 1930s upon the development of electric and diesel trains.
Steam trains ran on coal - the coal-burning engine was improved by the famous inventor James Watt in those days, and the then-revolutionary invention was one of the things that sparked the Industrial Revolution.
Coal, however, as then is now a very dirty form of fuel, and extremely inefficient by todays standards, even when compared to coal powerplants of today.
This is why when the far more efficient diesel and electric trains came into being, they were rather easily and quickly able to push coal trains into oblivion.
But despite the fact that they are hopelessly out of date, steam trains still have the power to evoke those bygone days when they were in vogue - even for those who may not have experienced them firsthand.
This is why, even now, steam trains are quite popular among model train hobbyists.
Model train hobbyists just love steam trains because working on them feels like they are putting their hands on a piece of history when they do so.
This is not only because doing so is educational, which it most certainly is; it's also the thrill of rediscovering the past and, by doing so, living the lives of those who lived during those exciting days.
There's plenty of information available on steam trains - even model train kits, if you're so inclined - so it's not going to be awfully hard to put together a good working steam train model, and maybe even kit it out fully with all the accessories and maybe even a nice city- or countryscape to make it look even nicer.
If that's what you want to do, it's pretty easy to find yourself a kit or two at your local hobby shop.
Or you might want to get in touch with a group or a club and see if anyone would be willing to sell you a second-hand unit, if that's alright with you or is what you're after in the first place.
But whatever your choice, you're always better off educating yourself properly regarding these trains - especially if you're buying something from someone else, just to make sure you don't get gypped.
You'll need to read up extensively on décor, livery, accompanying equipment, and so on and so forth.
Besides, if you want to work on one of these things, you might as well go the whole hog and be completely historically accurate.
The bottom line is that it might be a tad tedious, but putting together a beautiful, historically accurate model steam train can be nothing if not extremely rewarding for your and your family or friends.
It can be quite a challenge but it is definitely no less than a major accomplishment, and as such is something you can definitely be proud of.