I have had a life long interest in railways and in particular in steam engines. probably because one of my Great - grandfathers' was a Plate Layer for the Midland Railway, and another Great - grandfather was a Steam Raiser for the Midland Railway, Also both of my Grandfathers were Firemen for the Great Northern Railway - later becoming Drivers for the L.N.E.R. A Great Uncle was a Shunter for the London & North Eastern Railway and an Uncle was a Lamp Man / Relief Signal Man who finally became a Guard for British Railways. I myself have never worked on the Railways but for my 50th birthday I was treated to a Foot-plate Experience course on the Nene Valley Railway this made me appreciate how hard life must have been for railway workers of the past who had to earn a living from this industry. Peterborough where I was born and have lived all my life has had the influence of 5 railway companies :- London & Northwestern Railway , Great Northern Railway , Midland Railway , Great Eastern Railway and the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway My original intentions were to create a simple Home Page outlining my interests and illustrated with a few pictures. But during an attic clear out I re-discovered a few boxes of photographs and slides, unfortunately these have suffered due to poor storage - not that they were all photographic masterpieces in the first place - especially those that had been taken by myself whilst I was still at school which had an active Railway Society and organized many Sunday tours. I have restored some of these photographs digitally and have posted them here for your enjoyment. The captions are as accurate as I can remember but I welcome any corrections by E-mail. Also found in the loft were some photographs taken by my uncle Mr R. F. Mason in 1938,which I have also included All the images have been up-loaded in a low resolution format to save space and display quicker.
          Was it really 40+ years ago that I took the photographs? or 50+ years since as a child I was waken by the sound of night-time shunting at New England, hearing the rapid exhaust beat as wheels slipped as wagons were being propelled forward into sidings, the wagons' wheel flange squealing as they negotiated the point-work and the crash of buffers as they met previously shunted wagons, and by express trains hauled by pacifics whistling as they passed.............
Now the night-time sound is the constant drone of traffic on the dual carriage-way that was once the M.& G.N.J.R. main east-west route. But during the day-time if the wind is in the right direction the sound of a B1's whistle can occasionally be heard from the Nene Valley Railway and also the sound of an ex G.N.E.R.225s' hooter on the ECML does seem to have a familiar chime as it follows 'The Route of the Flying Scotsman' as was once proclaimed on the coach sides.