Fascinating photos of bygone era

AHONITON railwayman’s fascinating collection of photographs from the last days of steam is to be sold today in Chilcotts auction.

James Burns, who still lives in the town, started his career after he was stopped by a recruiting office during a visit to Waterloo Station in the early 1970s. He worked in Woking and Reading, moving back to Devon to become a guard on freight and passenger trains out of Exeter St Davids. In the 1980s he became a train driver, a role he continued until his retirement in 2002. He is still a railway enthusiast.

A keen amateur photographer, Mr Burns started photographing the trains and continued to do so throughout his career on the railways.

The collection of photographs being auctioned includes many from the early 1960s with hundreds of black and white photos and slides showing steam trains during this period, plus a number of early colour prints dated 1964.

There are also evocative photos of steam engine ‘graveyards’ as these magnificent machines were discarded in favour of diesel. The ascent of diesel engines is also pictorially documented – although dieselisation began in the 1930s it wasn’t until the late 1950s that it began to dominate on the railway network.

Many prints have helpful descriptions on the back, with information such as dates, locations, and departure stations.

Auctioneer, Duncan Chilcott said: “There’s huge fondness for the days of steam, and this absorbing anthology contains a vast amount of pictorial information; it will be of interest both to railway enthusiasts and historians. All the images are being sold with full copyright so they can be reproduced at will.”

This is just one item in a new dedicated Transport & Collectors sale which includes over 80 items from the world of transport. The sale begins at 10am.

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