The central scene depicts a dark-coloured Southern Railway steam engine pulling two matching green passenger carriages along a single-track railway line. The train is moving from left to right, curving gently through a lush, verdant English countryside. A pair of young boys stand on a dirt path running alongside the tracks, watching the train pass, while the background features rolling green hills under a soft, overcast sky.
The artwork is rendered in a realistic, painterly style with a focus on nostalgic detail. The engine is painted in deep tones, contrasting with the vibrant green foliage of the overhanging trees and the sunlit grassy banks. The colour palette is dominated by natural earthy tones—greens, browns, and grey gravel—highlighted by the bright green of the carriage paintwork and the pale blue of the sky.
Surrounding the central rectangular landscape are decorative train-themed elements set against a deep green border. These include a large pair of red train wheels in the top left corner, a metal whistle, a circular station clock, a vintage-style paper train ticket on the left, a signal post at the bottom left, and a red and green flag in the bottom right corner. These border graphics provide a framing effect that reinforces the vintage railway theme of the main painting.