My thing about steam es back to WWII. A couple of times my Dad took my Grandfather and me to the PRR Crestline roundhouse (we could just walk in!) and I have a vivid memory of the gigantic beasts and the smell of steam & oil & grease.
I model, mostly, PRR in the Fifties, so my roster includes some first gen diesels, but my pets are the Pennsy steamers (and B&O, and N&W, and C&O, and Reading...)