|
|---|
Welcome to Monkeysnaps3 - a limited collection of pre-digital photographs taken during the British Railways era.
There are three black and white collections - my favourite medium - covering the railway scene in the mid-1960's and the 1980's. Less pictorial, but more documentary in style - featuring not only motive power but also people and places, that, invariably, add context to those images - all now a distant but happy memory.
The colour collections cover everyday workings in the North East of England, the West Highland Railway and the Settle and Carlisle Railway in the 1980's, and are by no means a definitive collection, but just a few pictures from a time before the plethora of new liveries, freight rationalisation and the electrification of the ECML that led up to privitisation, and continued afterwards
Bill Watson.
Created on 24th March 2005. |
|
|
|---|
 | | 1 - Glorious Black and White 1966 - 68.
When I decided to record steams passing instead of merely watching, I had missed the best and would never see the variety of locos and locations of the great railway photographers such as Bill Anderson and Colin Gifford, my personal favourites. I only started seriously photographing steam railways in 1966 but the infrastructure and murky places were still there, so it seemed a good idea to record that. Dates are a little speculative as I took very few notes.
|
 | | 2 - Glorious Black and White 2 - ongoing.
This collection starts in 1979 after foolishly spending a decade or more in denial. This collection is solely given over to some of my favourite Deltic moments. This collection will be added to, as time permits.
|
 | | 3 - Glorious Black and White 3 - ongoing.
The end of the Deltics, but there was sufficient interest in the contemporary scene to explore new areas, at least until 1989 and the demise of the West Highland loco-hauled passenger services and reduced freight. This limited collection will eventually form the bulk of Monkeysnaps - possibly once I retire.
|
 | | 4 - Northern England.
This collection covers the North-east of England and the Settle to Carlisle Railway, depicting everyday workings in the 1980's with a couple of shots taken after I had ceased rail photography and while out walking or on holiday with friends. I adopted a more pictorial style for the colour images as the dynamics of live steam were no longer there. It is not meant to be a definitive collection, but only to show the variation of locos and liveries in the pre-privatation railway era. I hope to re-do these very early scanning efforts in due course when I replace my scanner.
|
 | | 5 - Scotland.
This collection covers the blue and large logo Class 37 era on the West Highland Railway in the mid to late 1980's and featuring mainly service trains. This is, unashamedly, the most pictorial collection of all with as much attention lavished on the location as the locomotives. I concentrated on the area between Glen Falloch and Achaladder Farm. I consider my time spent on the West Highland the most rewarding period of my railway odyssey, if not the most dynamic, photographically.
|
|
|
|
|---|
Most of the railway colour shots were taken with Pentax 6X7's using EPD (200 ASA Pro Ektachrome) scanned on a Canonscan 9900F. However, some later shots taken with Canon T90's on 64 Kodachrome and scanned on a Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400II are included.
Black and white pictures in the 1960's were taken with a 35mm Miranda FM on FP4 and HP3 filmstock. In the 1980's I used Practisix 6 X 6, and later, Pentax 6 X 7 cameras with Tri x film stock, and later, Ilford XP1.
The screen resolution is set at 800 X 600 as this gives the image and caption on my screen.
A left click on the image moves to the next shot. Using a larger screen resolution will give an improoved image, though you may have to scroll the screen. This is not recommended for the 1960's B&W Collection. Please use the Browser Configuration Box.
Queries on content are most welcome, as are any corrections and observations.
I have placed these pictures in the public domain, and as such realise some may abuse my doing so, personal use and direct linking aside. However, any reasonable requests for image files by individuals or groups are always given consideration, and so far very few have been refused.
|
|
|---|
Optimise Now!
Change the way photos appear on your browser, to your own taste and connection speed!
|
|
|---|
133 comments in this gallery
Click here to read them |
|
