black and white
railway photography
hover over the names below for more information
Kenneth Gray collection
steam from the 50s and 60s, mostly northern
Robin Barbour collection
mostly Scottish steam between 1957 and 1968
Bruce McCartney's Waverley Route
decline and fall of a main line - and its branches
Steve Price collection
mostly industrial, from the late 60s - early 70s
Tim's steamy snaps
BR steam in the north, at the start of the 60s
Geoff's mouldy oldies
a selection from the archives
Ex NBR 4-4-2T, LNER class C15 no. 67460 at Eastfield
(65A), 29 July 1959
Robin Barbour
Kenneth Gray
Kenneth toured the country from the late 50s onwards, in
search of the rapidly declining steam locomotive. Many
photographers around the end of steam appeared to
concentrate on the same things - often the main line
express steam. What makes Kenneth's collection
interesting is that,
while not
neglecting the
mainstream, he
managed to record
many of the more
obscure types of
locomotive.
The pages that
follow are a selection from the thousands of negatives in
his collection. Kenneth used two cameras - 35mm, and a
large format roll-film camera - I'm not certain what the
format was, but the negatives (which I had some fun
scanning) were approx. 2.5" x 4.25" - 116 or 626
perhaps. Many thanks to Bruce McCartney for struggling
manfully with the 35mm negs, and of course to Kenneth
himself for allowing us to make his photos available to a
wider audience.
J25 65645 at Tyne Dock
Robin Barbour: decline of steam: 1957 - 1968
The Eccentric Crank...
An old acquaintance and former near neighbour of Bruce
McCartney, Robin lived alone in Hawick until his death in
2006. Robin's sister Hazel asked Bruce if he would help
to dispose of Robin's huge collection of railway books,
and perhaps the proceeds could go to an appropriate
charity. The first thought was a day centre in Hawick that
Robin had
attended from time
to time - however,
that had closed,
and eventually the
A1 Locomotive
Trust was selected
to receive the
donation.
Hazel chose an
eccentric crank for the loco, and the following wording for
the certificate: "In memory of Robin Barbour of Hawick
whose love of steam engines saw him through many a
dark day"
D30 62440 “Wandering Willie”
Bruce McCartney's Waverley Route
Decline and fall of a main line - and its branches
16 July 1965 - the last train leaves Greenlaw,
on the western remnant of the Berwickshire
Railway, which ran from Ravenswood Junction,
near St Boswells on the Waverley route, to
Reston on the east coast main line
Steve Price collection
An assortment, mostly industrial, from the late
60s - early 70s
Steve was given the negatives some years ago. Mostly
industrial, they were taken at some familiar locations -
and some less-than familiar locations. We thought they
deserved a wider audience...
"Spitfire" Hunslet
3831 of 1955 at
NCB Bickershaw,
23 August 1971
Tim’s steamy snaps
BR steam in northern England, at the start or
the sixties*
Tim took these pictures on his Brownie 127 around the
early 1960s - possibly as early as 1959, perhaps as late
as '64 or '65. He's not sure - it was a long time ago!.
Living in the West Riding of Yorkshire at the time, the
photos were taken on spotting trips to places such as
York, Leeds, Bradford, Manchester and even Crewe.
But other than the obvious ones, I'm not certain when
and where they
were taken. If
anyone out there
can help me,
especially with
locations, I'd be
very grateful.
Please use the
feedback form if
you can help.
60106 “Flying Fox
(my first A3) at York
Geoff’s mouldy oldies
a selection from the archives - main line,
industrial, steam, diesel....
In the days of film, I concentrated on colour
transparencies - but from the mid-70s onwards, I usually
had a second camera with me. Sometimes I took b&w if
the weather (or the subject!) was too dull for colour.
Sometimes, a few shots (in b&w) with a long lens
preceded the colour photos. I owned a Mamiya 645 for a
while during the
80s - it spent most
of its life fixed to a
bracket with my
Nikon, so that I
could take colour
and b&w at the
same time. Here
are a few of the
results...
790 "Hardwicke" and
Midland compound no 1000
near Bell Busk, 24 April 1976
