ABOUT JACK...

Jack Boskett first picked up a camera at the age of five, and won the under 18s category of a photo competition just two years later.

Learning photographic skills as he grew up, Jack’s first railway photograph was published in The Railway Magazine in 2005 when he was 15, and he has continued to hone his skills without the benefit of any formal training or college and university qualifications.

At the age of 19, he decided to become a self-employed photographer and after 10 years in business, has never looked back.

His style is varied, from unique angles to moody creations of railways’ steam era using preserved lines as his stage for artistic licence.

A future ambition is to assist a film set designer, as he says there are far too many mistakes made in period re-creations – one of the worst he says was a Great Western Railway Prairie tank with LNER on the side.

Jack’s secret for success is not too many shots – as you would have done with film – and don’t overdo it.

“Sometimes you only have one shot to get it right,” he says.

When it comes to cameras, Jack uses a

Nikon D5 and D850 digital SLR with a range of lenses, setting exposures manually across a range of ISO speeds, and with no more than basic processing on the computer with Adobe Photoshop, converting the images from colour to black and white.

“These re-creations are great fun. I love my job and wouldn’t change it for the world.” he says.

YOUR January issue contained, in the archive section, a list of the steepest gradients on the network.

Has anyone studied the opposite end of the spectrum (ie: the shallowest, non-level, gradients?).

Attached is a photo of a gradient post arm which I rescued from a ditch by the Vale of Clwyd branch, between Foryd Junction and Rhuddlan, when track was lifted in the 1960s.

1-in-3684 is pretty close to 1 inch in 100yards. To put this in perspective,

I believe the curvature of the earth is about half an inch in 100yards.

Did railway surveyors have guidance on when to call a track level, and does anyone know of a gradient with a bigger number declared?

John D Smith

By email

TIME FOR A SERVICE: One of the UK’s most original GWR engine sheds is at Didcot Railway Centre, where you get a real feel for what it was like in steam days. Here ash and coal were spread over the floor, the ‘X58’ reporting number added to the front of No. 4079 Pendennis Castle, and one overhead light illuminates the scene. The debris on the floor was swept up afterwards. 24-70 lens, 5seconds,f/11,ISO100,cameraonatripod.