I just came across a story by Rudyard Kipling titled "Among the Railway Folk", which is a detailed
description of day-to-day life on a narrow guage steam powered Indian Railway circa 1890. It includes
stories of the shops (located on "Steam street"), working hours, how the engines were named, the
180 item checklist used when they were shopped, engineer working conditions, and is a delightful
slice of life piece. The story is available free on the Internet.