My interests in Railways and Photography began at virtually the same time back in 1956. Within a few weeks I had reached my eleventh birthday, started recording engine numbers on a trip from Birmingham New Street to Worcester (highlight 92079 – the new Lickey banker at Bromsgrove), been hauled by my first namer, 6971 Athelhampton Hall, from Snow Hill to Windsor and visited York Railway Museum on a trip from Sowerby Bridge hauled by 45698 Mars. It was while in York on that day that I took my first railway photograph of 60005 Sir Charles Newton with a Brownie 127. You could say I was hooked!

The railway interest developed more rapidly than the photography with trips around the country to stations, sheds and works. But I acquired a reasonable roll film camera in 1957 and a 35 mm Agfa Silette in 1960. I began user processing in 1961 and this has continued to the present time for all my film photography. A-levels and University coincided with the rapid decline of steam but the photography progressed well as I moved up to my first SLR in 1966 and colour processing; slides, negatives and prints all joined the darkroom repertoire. Fortunately, by 1967, as a research student I could better afford film and was able to see and record much of the end of steam in 1968.

Work and family meant that railway photography in the 70s and 80s was largely dictated by holidays and tended to be based around the local preserved railway. I missed much of the rebirth of main-line steam but the darkroom side of my hobby continued including preparing chemicals to my own formulae. In the late 1980s my father’s health began to fail which necessitated frequent visits to the North-West and the discovery of regular steam workings over the S & C, North Wales Coast, Welsh Marches and York-Scarborough routes.

Since then I have been a regular main-line gricer. Barely a weekend goes by without a photographic expedition to somewhere in England or Wales to photograph steam hauled trains. Also, by this time, the heritage railways had reached the stage where their special events provide many interesting locomotives in attractive locations. The photographic side has also been transformed. First steps involved medium format SLRs and rangefinder cameras with up to four cameras on the head of my tripod. From 2002 I have used field, technical and monorail view cameras to achieve greater control of depth of field, focus and perspective. It would have been foolish not to embrace the digital revolution but I still shoot on film when I have the time. My current camera bags normally contain:
1. For main-line photography Canon 6D, Nikon Df and two Hasselblad 2000FCs with roll-film and digital backs. I have a collection of lenses from moderate wide through standard to long telephoto;
2. For preserved railways a pair of Hasselblad 500 C/Ms and the 2000FCs with ten lenses, Phase One and Hasselblad CFV digital backs and various format roll-film backs when required;
3. Various medium and large format view cameras from Cambo, Horseman, Linhof, Sinar, Speed Graphic & Toyo with many lenses, sheet film, roll-film and digital back adaptor plates when I have time and need the ultimate in image quality;
4. I still have my Pentax 6x7 SLRs, Mamiya 645s with many lenses and the Fuji GW670II rangefinder roll film camera;

With that load perhaps it comes as no surprise that I don’t walk the lanes and lines as much as I used to do!