Steam Porfolio

John Vaughan

GORING-BY-SEA
SUSSEX

My first really vivid recollection of the steam locomotive was on one of my childhood visits to Canada when I was 7 years old; I can recall the two large mountain engines coupling to the Trans-Canadian train at Calgary ready for the gruelling climb over the Rockies to Vancouver in 1950. Equally I can remember a return visit in 1953 when the train was hauled by diesel locomotives. Now some 15 years later the same transition has taken place in the United Kingdom, and for the last few years of steam traction I have recorded the British steam scene with my camera. My interest in railways started, like many other enthusiasts, by locospotting and even in my part of the country we had a variety of interesting trains - the through services between the West Country and Brighton and the varied freight services in an otherwise all-electric area.

Inevitably I travelled around the country to see what other lines had to offer; all the London terminus stations had their attractions and so too did the many sheds and works. However I lost interest in railways for some years and it was not until the mid-1960s that I suddenly realised that steam locomotives were disappearing fast. Only three years ago I was so disappointed with the results taken on a box camera that I was determined to have better equipment. Since then I have used various 35mm rangefinder and single lens reflex cameras and eventually graduated to an optically superb twin lens reflex, now a 3.5f Planar Rollieflex. I have also made great use of telephoto lenses, although not necessarily for their own sake. Naturally there has been a sense of urgency in recording the passing scene, the transition from steam to more modern forms of power and, of course, the run down of the BR system with line closures. But fortunately I have many memories of the steam scene on film, from the sunny days on the Isle of Wight to the last B1 leaving Bradford or Lord Faringdon climbing through Dunblane. Although the end of the steam era has come in my 26th year, for me it will not be the end of my railway interest and I will continue to wield my camera on the modern forms of traction.

Steam Porfolio

Leslie Nixon

GRINDLEFORD
DERBYSHIRE

It is only natural I suppose that I have been keenly interested in railways from a very early age, since both my father and grandfather were footplatemen serving at Barnsley, Mexborough, Stratford and Wath depots and sharing some 65 years' service. My earliest memories are of being taken to Barnsley Exchange station to see the selection of former Great Central Railway engines on shed. Later in life spare time alternated between visits to Crewe, Doncaster, Manchester, etc, and, when we had spent up, nearby Worsborough Bank. Worsborough was indeed a schoolboy's paradise in the early 1950s for although it lacked the glamour of express trains it was in those days remarkably easy to get footplate rides up and down the bank. I spent many happy summer days on the footplate of a J11, 04 or the Garratt. A sight (and sound!) never to be forgotten was a heavy coal train plodding up the 1 in 40 in the hands of a pair of 2-8-0s in the lead and the 2-8-8-2 in the rear.

Several years of study enforced a reduced interest in the railway scene until, in common with many, I realised in the early 1960s that time was indeed getting very short and not a moment was to be lost if I was to obtain a personal record of the steam era. A considerable portion of my savings was invested in a pair of Exakta Varex Ila bodies with a selection of interchangeable lenses. Armed with reels of FP3 (developed in Acutol) and Kodachrome II film, I have since spent many happy hours by the lineside in shirt sleeves or overcoat and gumboots at locations as varied as Perth and Pancorbo.

My favourite haunts are undoubtedly those superb scenic locations on the Settle & Carlisle or Waverley routes. How I wish we could turn the clock back some 15 years or so when local passenger and pick up freight trains were working on such exciting lines as Hexham to Riccarton Junction and Hawes to Northallerton.

August 5, 1968 was a sad day indeed but several bright spots remain; at least we shall have steam in Europe for a number of years yet, while nearer home there are the preserved lines, and a large but fast dwindling assortment of industrial steam locomotives.