Peter Nicholson 1948-2023 Railway author, photographer and RM correspondent.
IT IS with great sadness that we report the death of railway author, journalist, photographer and preservationist Peter Nicholson, who passed away on October 30 aged 75.
Peter had been an occasional contributor of photographs and articles to The Railway Magazine for many years before becoming our Classic Traction correspondent in
1999, drawing on his in-depth knowledge of preserved diesel and electric locomotives. Six years later, Peter introduced a new section to the magazine covering miniature railways.
The RM editor at the time, Nick Pigott, recalled how he had initially needed some persuasion to include these smaller gauge railways in the magazine, but subsequently had to admit that Peter had been right to do so.
Peter wrote for The RM until the November 2023 issue, in recent years assisted by his grandson Josh Brinsford, who is following in his grandfather’s writing footsteps from this month. Josh said: “Peter will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him, and our family thank everyone who has shown their support. We are very grateful and will all remember the good times with grandad.”
For many years, Peter worked for Haynes Publishing in Sparkford, Somerset, and was the book editor of a number of publications, but also authored his own works.
As a frequent visitor to many heritage railways across the country, Peter was known by many. He did not just write the news, however, as he was also very active ‘on the other side of the fence’ as the owner of many standard, narrow, and miniature gauge railway vehicles.
In 1979 he was part of the group that formed the Barry Steam Locomotive Action Group (BSLAG) to save as many locos from the famous scrapyard as possible, at the time when the yard had run out of wagons to process and so was turning to the long lines of locomotives that had been stored there since the 1960s.
One of his favourite Barry locos was GWR Churchward 2-8-0 No. 2807, which he campaigned to save as the oldest survivor of the ‘2800’ Class. Poignantly, the loco returned to steam after overhaul just a day before Peter passed away. He also saved many narrow gauge steam and diesel locos, including repatriating locos from France and other countries.