Moments when preserved railways, with a little bit of imagination, possibly capture the real thing…

[Cowley]

This is an idea for a bit of fun that I’ve had for a while actually but chatting to @Mag_seven at the weekend about it made me finally do something about it, and although it could possibly be placed in the photography section I’ve decided to place it here, because we’re incredibly lucky to have what we have and I’d like to create a bit of a showcase of what our preserved railways are able to recreate when you capture something in the right moment.

The premise of the thread is that when you post a picture you describe what era in the past it invokes and why it makes you feel like you’re looking into a moment of the past, be it steam, diesel or electric that you’ve captured…
It doesn’t matter as long as you’ve tried to capture something that could’ve been in the past.

Feel free to use filters - black and white etc, whatever you think works well if it captures a particular moment in time.

I’ll start it off with these:

It’s 1959 and a Manor takes on water at Toddington (on the since preserved Gloucester and Warwickshire Steam Railway) as the crew pass the time of day.
Plenty of wagons in the yard as time ticks by.



It’s 1967 at Alton station as the platform staff load the guards section on a 3H bound for Winchester…



Over to you.

 

[pdeaves]

The second of that pair (Alton) works very well, I think.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Just a thought... but is one problem with such photos the way that heritage railways present their engines in tip-top condition, cleaned and polished and with a pristine paint job, whereas in "real" use they may have been dirty, beaten and worn?

 

[Davester50]

Just a thought... but is one problem with such photos the way that heritage railways present their engines in tip-top condition, cleaned and polished and with a pristine paint job, whereas in "real" use they may have been dirty, beaten and worn?

I get this completely! And it's not just limited to preserved railways. I just can't get many current TV dramas set in the 60s as everything is just too clean and polished.
Was looking back at some 1970/80s photos online, and the piles of litter through station platforms was considerable, not to forget the shabby paint and griminess of everything which just isn't reproduced on preserved railways.

It's a good thing though, who wants to visit a dump?!

 

[Titfield]

I may be castigated for saying this but it is very difficult for heritage railways to present an "as it really was" representation:
1) locomotives too shiny, cleaned and polished.
2) too many anachronistic details which stick out like a sore thumb: blue image mixed with grouping, orange "piping" carrying signal wires under tracks, enamel signs everywhere,
3) the linear scrapyard full of sheeted over rolling stock
4) volunteers too well dressed and presented with too many badges and other impedimenta.
5) modern advertising for the cafe / buffet / station shop
6) use of vinyl banners advertising events
7) the dreaded high viz
8) new buildings clad in corrugated steel
9) the book barrow flogging old railway books and magazines
10) the use of cable ties
11) the donations welcome signage and associated clutter
12) the use of laminated a4 paper signs

Whilst some of this is both essential (for health and safety) and some of it is understandable. nevertheless I do think some HRs could do it better by following the less is more concept especially when it comes to enamel signs, poster boards, advertising etc.

 

[high camera]

Perhaps photoshop needs a new filter "Rust & Grime" !

 

[pdeaves]

Perhaps photoshop needs a new filter "Rust & Grime" !

Definitely!

In the spirit of the thread, here's my contribution: Rusty track. It reminds me of certain 'out of the way' bits of national network when I was younger.

 

[Gloster]

The day in the early 1970s when we turned up at one of the recently started up lines to find nobody about and a board outside the entrance with a bit of paper stuck to it saying, ‘No trains today’. (We were going off on or returning from holiday so I can’t remember which line it was. At least it was only a wasted diversion, not a complete journey.)

 

[Flying Phil]

I think Titfield has made some very good points but I have seen some photographs taken at Swithland (GCR) on a foggy day which were so evocative. Here is one of mine at Loughborough with a Peak and Jinty, so could have been Leicester London Road in 1963 (ish?). It is still a bit too clean though!

 

[The Lad]

Nice one but does illustrate how hi Vis can creep in not withstanding the high intensity headlamp?

 

[SuspectUsual]

4) volunteers too well dressed and presented with too many badges and other impedimenta

And unrealistically helpful compared to how I remember many BR staff in the 80s

1) locomotives too shiny, cleaned and polished.

Every time I see D1501 (aka 47402 Gateshead) at the ELR I have a little smile to myself about how any loco anything to do with Gateshead could be anything other than a muddy brown colour

 

[Titfield]

And unrealistically helpful compared to how I remember many BR staff in the 80s

Yes good point.

I think many heritage railway's try to present the stations as we would like to remember them rather than as they really were.

If one looks at many of the pictures on the disused stations website one gets an overwhelming representation of dereliction and decay. I get the impression that many stations hadnt been painted at all during the BR period and were probably last redecorated pre WW2.

Many country stations were well looked after including hanging baskets and flower beds but as staff shortages began to bite in the 50s and later there wasnt the manpower (or possibly the inclination) to maintain standards.

 

[fgwrich]

Just a thought... but is one problem with such photos the way that heritage railways present their engines in tip-top condition, cleaned and polished and with a pristine paint job, whereas in "real" use they may have been dirty, beaten and worn?

I’m sure it has probably been cleaned since, but the Severn Valley got this right during a visit a few years ago, with a few Mk1s looking like this. Not by any means at all looking unloved, but more authentic, work stained look.

 

[xotGD]

Every time I see D1501 (aka 47402 Gateshead) at the ELR I have a little smile to myself about how any loco anything to do with Gateshead could be anything other than a muddy brown colour

I'll have you know that I've just had a shower!

 

[LowLevel]

Perhaps not the greatest image in the world but represents pretty well a DMU pottering along a main line on local service.

 

[32475]

I trawled through my photos and found two that hopefully pass muster. One going through the tunnel at Grosmont which is actually a colour photo but the steam and gloom turn the blood and custard carriage livery to black and white. The other is on a dmu at Ravenstor on the EVR (for those of a tedious pedantic persuasion, please ignore the printed A4 on the dashboard above the glove compartment). Both taken in 2018.

 

[Ashley Hill]

View attachment 112165

Perhaps not the greatest image in the world but represents pretty well a DMU pottering along a main line on local service.

By cropping off Swithland yard that could be the early 70s. A lovely shot

 

[SuspectUsual]

View attachment 112165

Perhaps not the greatest image in the world but represents pretty well a DMU pottering along a main line on local service.

That’s lovely, thank you, and very nostalgic for those of us of a certain vintage

 

[LowLevel]

As you liked the DMU, please forgive the portable headlight but how about the local 08 on a transit move from trip working.

I'm sure I have more I can dig out.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Mar 2022 ==



A 45 on a freight looped for an express being hauled by a 25 to pass (maybe!).



A 25 on a country local or outer suburban service?

 

[SuspectUsual]

Love that the signaller has given the 08 the distant

 

[pdeaves]

A 25 on a country local or outer suburban service?

Not knocking the picture, I think this highlights some of the things raised in previous posts. Everything is too clean and the people appear 'out of period' to the train.

Another issue that no one has raised yet, and one of the reasons I like the Alton pic in the original post, is to do with the image quality. Photos taken in the 1980s and earlier simply do not have the brightness/saturation, nor the sharpness, of modern images (obviously, exceptions apply; I'm thinking about the kind of picture the general public would take with generally available equipment). So, to capture the 'recreated past', we need to desaturate images and soften the focus a bit. A modern digital image is effectively the master. Old prints are copies (from the negative) that give loss of quality, even if only slight.

 

[LowLevel]

Not knocking the picture, I think this highlights some of the things raised in previous posts. Everything is too clean and the people appear 'out of period' to the train.

Another issue that no one has raised yet, and one of the reasons I like the Alton pic in the original post, is to do with the image quality. Photos taken in the 1980s and earlier simply do not have the brightness/saturation, nor the sharpness, of modern images (obviously, exceptions apply; I'm thinking about the kind of picture the general public would take with generally available equipment). So, to capture the 'recreated past', we need to desaturate images and soften the focus a bit. A modern digital image is effectively the master. Old prints are copies (from the negative) that give loss of quality, even if only slight.

That was one of my own thoughts when I took the photo - modern cameras take totally different photos. I've seen some cracking slightly modified modern era photos though, I'm not technical enough to be bothered editing things.

When you're stood in the moment however if you can zone out on the public (I hate staged photo charters personally!) it can feel quite out of this world at the GCR at times. Sometimes it's best to shut your eyes and just listen instead.

 

[Tomnick]

It's a really difficult one, this. No matter how good a job a railway's done of getting the infrastructure and trains right for a particular era, there's invariably something in the shot to give it away! That, and also that cameras are very different nowadays.

A few that I've dug out, anyway. I've given some of them a quick tweak.


Quorn, on a quiet weekend. Weedkilling was evidently overdue, which gives it rather a rundown look.


Dropping down to the shed at Loughborough. A long lens and a bit of steam hides most of the modern intrusions present in the area. Hopefully the general atmosphere is enough to distract from the modern car just visible in the background!


Swithland. It's always an enjoyable location because you've not got a station or passengers, and the modern facilities that they demand - you just run trains up and down, shunt a few freight trains on busy weekends, and it's easy to immerse yourself in that.


More of the same, although I think this one's far too sharp and could do with a lot more work on it.


Rothley. This one's better, at least partly because it was a pretty rubbish photo by today's standards!


Swithland, again. This one's had to be cropped to get rid of some hi-vis clad bods to the right. There's some more visible beyond the signal box, but hopefully not too obvious at first glance.


The final two are what it's all about, for me. You're isolated from much of the commercial reality of heritage railways in the signal box, even more so at Swithland as I suggested above. My relief took these photos using my camera, unfamiliar to him, which undoubtedly made it easier to tweak these to fit in here!


Edit: actually, one more. Something a little different, that's thankfully rarely recreated in preservation!

 

[pdeaves]

Rothley. This one's better, at least partly because it was a pretty rubbish photo by today's standards

That one looks pretty authentic; something about the colour balance and the slight fuzziness at the edges. Maybe more dirt needed, though! (oh, and cut back the trees a bit).

 

[Mike Machin]

Lots of these images are good, but the Alton picture with the 3H is absolute perfection. Other than a few spells away, I have lived in Hampshire all of my life, with the Netley Line and the original pre-heritage Mid Hants Line providing virtually daily transport on the old 3H units.

The trolley loaded with small packages, waiting to be loaded into the luggage compartment of the driving trailer (a former second-class compartment, with the seating removed) was a daily sight, just like this. And, in 1967, we still had the green enamel signs, mechanical signalling, water columns and gas lighting on many of the Hampshire stations too.

The well-known railway photographer John Bird lived in the same road as me when I was growing-up - our parents were good friends, and I remember shuffling through lots black and white photographs with him, taken on his trusty Yashica.

This shot has totally, absolutely 'nailed it!'

 

[d9009alycidon]

The Great Central Railway have release a few videos in the style of the old BTF films, they are pretty close to the mark.

Here is an example

 

[Dhansak]

D306 swings in to Bury Bolton Street from the south. I have played with the colour a little to make it look a little more faded and cropped the image to look a bit like a 126 film image. I couldn't do much about the TOPS number or the later-addition nameplate!

 

[Flying Phil]

Just to remind us as to how locomotives typically looked, WC "Barnstaple" at Nine Elms (1966)

 

[eldomtom2]

That was one of my own thoughts when I took the photo - modern cameras take totally different photos. I've seen some cracking slightly modified modern era photos though, I'm not technical enough to be bothered editing things.

Film cameras are still popular today - personally I've always liked the idea of capturing something modern like Crossrail on silent 8mm film sixties-style...

 

[Cowley]

Thanks for embracing the idea everyone. There’s some great photos on here as well.

Sometimes you can get almost everything perfect but there’s always some little detail that give the game away that it’s not a scene from past.

Occasionally I take the odd photo on the phone and when I’m looking back at it later I’ll see somebody in modern jeans, or I’ll notice just how shiny the tender is on a certain loco.
That’s why it’s good fun playing around with some filters to see if a picture can be bought to life a bit more.

I just had a tinker with these. They’re well known locations but with a bit of imagination…

1990 Somewhere around London maybe..?


And 1958 before the headlong rundown of Western Region steam…