Satow was assigned by ICI to India in 1956, his family joining him there later. Satow said "The first railway that I can ever recall turning me on was the Matheran Railway". He was to go on to develop a passion on the subject of Steam locomotives constructed in the United Kingdom and exported to India. In 1963 he organised for Baguley locomotive works No. 2007 to be recovered from a water pumping station at Barrackpore, India and restored at an ICI subsidiary. He was later to recover that locomotive in 1971 as well as Baldwin Class 10-12-D No. 778 to the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway heritage operation where he was the first president.
