Peter Collins - A Railwayman's View

Railway Books > Peter Collins - A Railwayman's View

The Peter Collins books are currently ONLY available as eBooks in the ePub 3.0 format.

This decision was made due to the currently high costs of paper and the price we would need to charge customers for the book
is too high for us given the current economic climate.

However, if you purchase the eBook then we will provide you with a discount code
to get £15 off the printed version when it is printed.

An Interactive PDF version is also available to those buying the ePub format, please contact us if you require this format.

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PC-Book-BR-Western-Region-Vol1
Price: £20.00 for ePub format Digital Book, 180pp, 157 Black and White photos. All photos are available to buy separately via links on the book.

I met Peter Collins for a coffee and a croissant in Carluccios at Manchester Piccadilly station several years ago. He had contacted me after seeing an advertisement in the Railway Magazine seeking railway enthusiasts with a photographic collection that might be worth publishing. Given Peter lives south of London and the fact he was willing to make the journey north made it a no-brainer to meet up; but it is always interesting to see whether other people’s perceptions of a good photo collection match your own.

I wasn’t disappointed. Peter’s collection of over 1300 images, predominantly from the 1970s, spans all regions of British Rail. Even better, the large majority of negatives are in excellent condition, especially given they had been stored in envelopes and plastic sleeves for over 50 years in some cases. The only problem, as I found out early in the conversation, was that Peter didn’t take notes of his photographic exploits and as most negatives are from Ilford Black & White film we have no specific dates in most cases of when photos were taken. We have to rely on Peter’s memory.

Undaunted, however, what we do have are some well taken and well composed (in my humble opinion) photographs of British Rail in the 1970s and early 1980s. This was a time when British Rail still ran a network of passenger services based on locomotives and rakes of carriages and most freight was still made up of 4-wheel vans and mineral wagons. In most regions the Modernisation Plan of 1955 was still in place, although as we shall see in the first volume of Peter’s collection the Western Region had reluctantly begun to divest itself of the Diesel Hydraulics in favour of the ‘standard’ Class 31s, 47s and then 50s.

We have had some ‘healthy’ debates about what should be included in this book (and hopefully future books) and even more energetic ‘discussions’ on the possible dates and services that Peter has captured with his cameras. Fortunately, for us both, the internet and social media has come to the rescue on many occasions to resolve uncertainties. Moreover, we hope that the captions provide some useful background to some well composed photographs that are not the normal record of the railways at this time. For me personally, Peter captures a broad picture of 1970s British Rail, in all its grim glory before the arrival of bland trains painted in bright colours, their designs led by marketeers and accountants.

This first volume depicts the Western Region, from London Paddington to Penzance, Wales and the Midlands. Warships, Hymeks and Westerns are superseded by Goyles, Syphons, Duffs and Hoovers. The future of intercity travel is represented by the Prototype High Speed Train. Many of the photographs include spotters or passengers. If you recognise yourself, get in touch with us at ellybellypublications@outlook.com.

I hope you enjoy the book as much as we both enjoyed putting it together. Peter and I are now looking forward to having more ‘debates’ and ‘investigations’ as we move on to producing the second volume from Peter’s collection; the Eastern Region.

PC-Book-BR-Midland-Region-Vol2
Price: £20.00 for ePub format Digital Book, 180pp, 158 Black and White photos. All photos are available to buy separately via links on the book.

Welcome to the second volume of ‘A Railwayman’s View - The Photographs of Peter Collins’. This second book covers the London Midland Region of British Railways, primarily the West Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line, but also covers North Wales, Scotland and the East Midlands. Whilst the first volume in this series featured the swansong of the Western Region’s “ill-fated” choice of Diesel-Hydraulic traction, this book has many photographs taken at Crewe during the West Coast Main Line electrification from Crewe to Glasgow.

Electrification of the northern section of the WCML followed on from that between London Euston, Liverpool and Manchester, first announced in the Modernisation Plan of 1955. Many of the photographs from Crewe show the changing face of the London Midland Region at this time. English Electric Class 50s seen in Volume One started their lives on the northern section of the WCML whilst electrification was completed. Here we see them in their original condition, before transfer to the Western Region and their refurbishment. The original AL1-AL6 Electric locomotives are seen in their original guise, plus Class 87s and the Advanced Passenger Train are briefly seen as well as a fabulous collection of Diesels in various liveries from BR Green to BR Blue.

English Electric Class 40s are shown in their transition from BR Green to BR Blue liveries, and both are seen before the “bashers“ arrived in force in the twilight of their lives. The sheer variation of locomotive types that could be seen at Crewe on any day in the early 1970s would be a dream for today’s rail enthusiasts, used to multiple units and Class 66 freight locomotives.

The busy scenes captured by Peter reflect the multiple locomotive changes required at Crewe on a daily basis. Class 40s , 47s and 50s on passenger duties were switched to electric traction for their onward journey to Euston. The sight of multiple locomotives stabled in-between duties was commonplace. The dominance of Sulzer Type 2’s in Scotland is reflected in some photographs from railtours Peter took, as well as a Class 50 at Perth station.

The Midland lines are also seen, dominated by Class 44/45/46 ‘Peaks’ and a few Sulzer Type 2’s along the way. The ability to walk around Toton depot, even walking across main running lines would be deemed a major hazard today, but not at Christmas in 1971!

As a student I was lucky (or otherwise) to use Manchester Victoria station in the 1980’s, the sheer greyness and reek of BR in the 1970s still evident before its rebuild. Some classic photos of EE Class 40s taken on dank and dark Manchester days recapture the feel of the station at this time, the ash stained roof and buildings invoking memories of steam that only ended some 4 years previously.

The photographs presented in this second volume reflect the changing face of British Rail in the 1970s, a steady decline trying to be arrested by electrification, but failing to appeal to new travellers. the bashers would revel in this environment, and we hope that this book will bring back fond memories.

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