Three things prompted me to launch this page about Colour-Rail. I'll begin with the company itself. Founded by Ron White over thirty years ago, Colour Rail's amazing collection contains over 240,000 images of Britain's steam, diesel and electric railway locomotives, trolley buses and trams. The company has provided book publishers, magazine editors, transport enthusiasts, modellers and artists with a vauable source of historic detail for donkey's years.
I'm harking back to the days of childhood spotting days when black & white railway photographs (taken by such luminaries as Canon Eric Treacy, JWV Anderson and George Heiron...plus dozens more) monopolised the monthly magazines. In those days colour printing was still in its infancy and it was more usual to find a painting by artist Vic Welch reproduced on the cover of an Ian an Allan's 'Locospotters' Annual'. Then over the years, slowly but surely - colour photos began to appear in print, first on the frontispeiece then inside the publication itself, and invariably the photos were provided by Colour-Rail.
Colour-Rail is now run by Paul Chancellor, who continues to provide by far the most comprehensive photographic record of transport on the Internet. The company makes available duplicate colour slides, prints and downloads via the company's own website, with prices starting at 99p.
99p!
Well…being a tight-fisted Yorkshireman this sounds very reasonable to me, particularly in view of prices I have seen elsewhere on the web. I am constantly amazed at the vastly inflated bidding wars for Colour Rail photos on eBay, especially when the same images can be purchased direct from Colour Rail at a fraction of the cost using the company's excellent search facility.
It begs the question why?
It also brings me to the nub of the matter. Because a friend of mine, albeit not quite computer illiterate, is a relative newcomer to the Internet and happened to mention how difficult he found Colour-Rail's search facility. He suggested that perhaps it could be the reason why enthusiasts buy via eBay…
Okay, he may well have a point…and so with Paul Chancellor's permission I've cobbled together this page for the growing band of 'Silver Surfers' new to the Internet.
(Left) Harking back to the old days before the world wide web (www) was launched in 1989, there was nothing I liked better than browsing through the pages of old issues of 'Railway Magazine' and 'Trains Illustrated', and so it is surprising that it took me so long to start surfing one of the largest railway archives in the world on the Internet. Okay, I found the 'drag and click mouse' jargon a bit baffling at first, but once I got going it was great to log on and search through the thousands of railway sites. Trouble is surfing the 'communications super highway' is a daunting task unless you know what you're doing. Over the years, the World Wide Web has become a victim of its own success, and the information overload - the sheer volume of material it contains - can take a lot of digesting. Nonetheless, the World Wide Web is a fantastic resource for railway enthusiasts, particularly the Color-Rail webite. Click here to visit the Search Page and try it for yourself...
(Right) Although certain factions of the spotting fraternity take the hobby very seriously indeed, others pitch their interest in a more light-hearted fashion. Not all spotters are 'nerds', 'geeks' and 'anoraks', and contrary to popular belief, we enjoy a joke - often at our own expense - though the delivery might be so deadpan that Joe public might not recognise the bone-dry humour.
To give you a measure of the 'knockabout' banter amongst enthusiasts, this OPC catalogue cover (right) contains a personal stock of memories; the painting was inspired by Colour-Rail's photo (featured below) and shows Class A4 Pacific No 60020 Guillemot heading the 'up' Elizabethan through York. It certainly raised a few smiles when it appeared in the May 1988 issue of 'Railway Magazine' together with the caption: 'This illustration - used on the jacket of the Oxford Publishing Company's book 'Northern Steam Remembered' by David Hey and Peter Batty - involved the publishers in considerable correspondence as this locomotive, never having been fitted with a corridor tender, was not rostered for the Elizabethan. However, it was a particular favourite of the artist, whose explanation is that it had substituted for a failed diesel!' True, I did say that, but it was a lame excuse to make. No 60020 - a Gateshead engine all its life, and one of eleven A4's coupled with a non-corridor tender - was a regular visitor to Leeds and I must have seen it countless times. However, the mistake was later redeemed by PWB Semmens, who wrote in his Railway Practice & Performance feature (tongue in cheek, I might add) 'I was amused by the caption to David Hey's painting of Guillemot on the 'up' Elizabethan leaving York, and would confirm that there must have been some major failure that day. The 'up' line out of York station runs almost exactly south-west, and the light in the picture is very clearly coming from the left-hand side as viewed, which means the time must have been about 7pm - long after the train's booked time!' Bless you, Mister Semmens.
…the point I'm making is this - artists and modellers, or anyone interested in railway history as a whole, are greatly influenced by a good quality colour photograph. I certainly am. This Colour-Rail shot (below) gave me a view of York station I had never seen before. It also provides modellers with a wealth of information...
(Above-Below) This is a superb colour shot by Ernest Sanderson of Peppercorn Class A1 Pacific No 60127 in blue livery at York. I had seen it in Hugh Ballantyne's excellent 'Eastern Steam in Colour' published by Jane's in 1986 and used it as a basis for the painting of 60020. I was later informed that the photo of 60127 was available on Colour-Rail's website and immediately found it by using the company's search facility. On the left hand side of the Home Page I found a list of options. I chose 'Search for Images'. A drop down menu appeared which lists everything from UK steam and modern traction to stations and railwayana. I chose 'UK Steam' and merely entered the reference number...hey presto! The photo appeared.
(Above) When my fellow 'Siver Surfer' wanted help in searching for a colour photo of a Stanier 'Duchess' on the WCML north of Preston, I suggested the best place to look was Colour-Rail...the following is a simple step-by-step guide. First click on 'Search for Images'; a new page appears that contains a powerful search tool. At the top of the page are guidelines that will help you make your choice. You can specify as little or as much as you like, but be warned...if you choose a popular class of engine you may get hundreds of results!
Having read the guidelines I then scrolled down the page to the Search Criteria (above) and found a number of boxes. At first glance, these might look rather difficult to the first-time visitor but let me be quite honest about this, if an old technophobe like my friend can get the hang of it anyone can! The choices on offer are relatively simple to follow:
IMAGE - Colour - Black & White, or both. I chose both.
FORMAT - Download, Slide, Print or any combination. I ticked all three.
REFERENCE - if you know the reference number of the view (as I did previously with the shot of the Class A1 60127 at York above) just type it in. It's that simple. However, if you do not have a reference number then you need to fill a few of the boxes as follows:
CLASS...click on example inset left - open the drop down menu of the first box; it includes a list of the 'Big Four' railway companies - GWR, SR, LMS, LNER and also BR Standards. I chose LMS. In the box beside it...click on inset example right - I chose 'Duchess' from the drop down menu containing a list of
different power classifications from Class 0F to Beyer Garrets.
LOCO NUMBER - I chose the entire class…
DATE - this can be just the year, month and year or the exact date, however since many views are undated a specific date may exclude a large number of images, therefore I chose 1950 to 1964.
LOCATION - this can be a station, shed or junction and is a free text field, but seeing as I was searching for an image of a Duchess north of Preston I left mine blank…preferring instead to choose Area 15 (in the bottom box) which covers NW England…see AREA option below.
DESCRIPTION - I left this blank, but this field will enable you to narrow your search down even further; it contains any other information you require For example, if you want a snow scene then just type 'snow' or if you are 
looking for a Pullman working then enter 'pullman'. In some cases more than one engine appears in a view. To find these shots enter 'plus' in this field.
AREA - as mentioned above, Colour-Rail have provided a map that divides the country into 20 arbitrary areas. I chose Area 15 from the Colour-Rail map drop down menu which covers NW England.
(Above-Inset Left & Right-Below) A fine study of 'King' Class No 6005 King George 11 blasting out of Warwick for the five mile climb of Hatton Bank with a train from Paddington in 1958. (Inset Right) Perhaps a few additional words about Colour-Rail's search tool wouldn't go amiss, even though it is really quite simple. In your search for photos you can specify as little or as much as you like in order to find what you are looking for. The first step is to select your choice of photo, which can be either colour, black & white, or both, and then choose the format such as a download, slide, print or any combination. If you click on the inset image right (to enlarge) you will see I have entered two dates 1961 to 1966 rather than specify a particular date, since many views in the Colour-Rail collection are undated and by selecting a date or even a year you could exclude a large number of images. As for choosing a location, such as a station, shed or junction, I opted instead to 
do an Area Search to find a photograph in the Midlands area. The Colour-Rail map can be found on the website but a sample image may be located via the link provided here. The country is divided into 20 arbitrary areas, however the boundaries are not precise and in some cases overlap therefore it is recommended that you also search in the adjacent area. (Below) Hatton station is the junction where the former GWR lines from Leamington Spa to Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham diverge. The station remains in use today (served by Chiltern Railways and London Midland) but unsurprisingly many of the buildings have long since gone, including the passenger facilities on the down island platform along with the South signal box. Here Stanier Class 8F No 48194 heads a brake van on the down loop on 1st October 1961. Following rationalisation of trackwork in 1968, the loops and sidings were removed and the North Curve reduced to single track. A year later the branch to Bearley was singled, signalling operations came under the auspices of the Saltley Power Box and all three Hatton signal Boxes were closed in September 1969.
(Above) On 13th April 1958 the RCTS organised the 'Sussex Coast Limited' from London Victoria with haulage provided by the LBSCR Class H2 Atlantic No 32424 Beachy Head for the outward journey from Victoria - Clapham Junction - Balham Jnct - Windmill Bridge Jnct - East Croydon - Coulsdon North - Earlswood - Three Bridges - Haywards Heath - Keymer Jnct - Lewes - Newhaven Town - Newhaven Harbour. At Newhaven Stroudley's 'Terrier' tank No 32640 hauled the train to Newhaven Town where Brighton-built BR Standard 2-6-4T No 80154 handled the Newhaven Town - Lewes - Brighton leg. Finally 'King Arthur' N15 Class No 30796 Sir Dodinas le Savage is seen here awaiting departure from Brighton for the final lrip to London Victoria. The tour itinerary was titled the 'Sussex Coast Limited' however other sources report the tour name as the 'Brighton Atlantic Farewell'. The tour itinerary also pointed out that the BR Standard 2-6-4T No 80154 was the last engine to be built at Brighton and that hauling the outward leg of the tour this was to be the final duty for 32424 Beachy Head. The stock consisted of seven coaches including the Pullman Car 'Myrtle'. This information was gleaned from the excellent Six Bells Junction website.
(Above) Bulleid's 'Battle of Britain' class No 34080 74 Squadron at Sherborne station with a train for Exeter on 10th May 1964. Opened in 1860 by the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway (S&YR) the station is situated on the London Waterloo-Exeter line, which later came under the auspices of the London and South Western Railway. In 1923 the L&SWR became part of the Southern Railway prior to the BR Southern Region taking over following nationalization of the 'Big Four' railway companies in 1948. When Beeching's infamous Reshaping of British Railways report was published in 1963 the route was transferred to the Western Region at which point most trains beyond Exeter St Davids were diverted to other lines. In May 1967 the 21 miles to Chard Junction was reduced to single track to save on running costs, but a section was hastily restored as far as Yeovil Junction. The photo gives a good view of the surviving station building on the 'up' platform, an architectural gem when compared to today's minimalistic bus stop-style shelters at stations of this size - a poignant reminder of the S&YR's grandiose plans. At the end of the up platform can be seen the old-style level crossing gates which were converted to lifting barriers in January 1970.
(Below) This Colour-Rail shot shows Edward Thompson's Class A2/3 No 60500 Edward Thompson arriving at York with a southbound train, date unknown…but just visible in the background is a BRCW 3-car set awaiting departure for Scarborough. This new dmu service commenced on March 17th 1960, replacing most of the weekday steam-hauled passenger services to the Yorkshire coast…No 60500 was disposed of in June 1963, which narrows the photo date down. The original six Class A2/2s, Nos 60501-60506, were Edward Thompson rebuilds from the Gresley Class P2 2-8-2s, and introduced in 1944. The second batch, Nos 60507-60510 was a similar design with a V2 2-6-2 boiler and Pacific wheel arrangement, designated A2/1. A further Thompson development came with the construction of Nos 60500, named in his honour, and Nos 60511 to 60524 from 1946-1947, all designated A2/3. Following the appointment of AH Peppercorn as CME of the LNER, a further fifteen was built with a shorter wheelbase, designated A2s - and, as it turned out, the performance of the Peppercorn engines was in sharp contrast to the unreliable Thompson design, which were early candidates for withdrawal. I contacted Chris Boylan, an ex-BR Fitter based in the North-East for his comments (link here to Chris's page) and this is what he had to say - 'Gateshead had three A2/3s Nos 516, 518 and 521, which were not popular amongst the footplate fraternity at 52A, the reason being that they were a rough riding machine, heavy on coal and sometimes prone to slipping when starting a heavy train. Once they got going, however, they could put up some spirited performances. Their construction was based on Thompson's rebuilding of Cock o'The North'. This entailed the re-use of existing materials and retaining as much of the ridiculous short con rods which were used in the new building (shades of Ravens B16s and his Pacifics). This is why the outside cylinders were set so far back. All three con rods were the same length, with the middle cylinder driving on the leading driving wheels, which resulted in an ungainly-looking machine. For the fitters in the shed, the exhaust ducts fitted to the outside cylinders were little tinkers to keep steam tight, and you had to watch yourself when dismantling the middle eccentric strap. On the other hand, the disposal crews loved them for their self cleaning smoke boxes and hopper ash pans which made them easier to dispose at the depot.
(Above) Chris Boylan adds his comments to this Colour-Rail shot of D20/2 No 62360 at Northallerton in July 1955 - 'In the days of the North Eastern Railway, the prototype underwent a stringent running-in turn on the morning Newcastle to Edinburgh and return working, followed by the afternoon Newcastle to Leeds and return six days a week (not Sunday). By the time her first general overhaul arrived she had amassed 284,000 miles. Gateshead's Class R /D20s were responsible for working the fastest train in the British Empire, the 12.20pm Newcastle-Sheffield. They covered the 44 miles between Darlington and York in 42 and half minutes. My retired engine driver friend recalls that they had to be managed with little and often technique keeping a level thin fire. Personally I thought they were a handsome looking machine, albeit their valves & pistons exams could be troublesome but nonetheless we overcome them. What I learned at South Blyth on the Westinghouse G5s did not come amiss when a Class R D20 wanted looking at…the last loco was scrapped not long before I completed my apprenticeship
(Below) Frome station is located on a 1½ mile-long loop off the former GWR main line at Clink Road Junction. This was created in 1933 when the company constructed a by-pass route enabling London-Plymouth-Penzance services on the Reading to Taunton line to avoid Frome station and the junction with the Radstock branch. Now I'll be quite honest about this, I am not particularly familiar with this neck of the woods, yet I was somewhat skeptical about Colour-Rail's description of the location. Opened in 1850, Frome station consists of a 120 by 48 foot timber train shed, supported by 12 composite trusses with a span of 49 feet; the unusual structure still survives and is now a Grade II listed building, but with the absence of anything like a train shed in the photo - together with just a tantalizing glimpse of three letters 'RAD' on the running-in board on the platform - it occurred to me that a mistake had been made in identifying the location. Therefore I contacted Ken Mumford, Editor of the Abergavenny and District Steam Society's 'The Coal Tank' magazine, for help. Quick as a flash, Ken circulated an appeal amongst members of the Abergavenny and District Steam Society and the response was terrific! They confirm that it is Frome station, after all, and shows 'Hall' class No 6955 Lydcott Hall running into the 'down' platform on 23rd March 1959. The 'RAD' you can see on the board is Radstock, the full wording will have been - 'Frome, change for Radstock'. Just visible in the background can be seen the Radstock-Somerset branch curving away to the west at the end of the 'up' platform. Following closure of the branch in 1959 along with the reduction of the 1½ mile-long loop to single track, the 'down' platform at Frome is now unused but mercifully the historic train shed survives. My thanks to Ken Mumford and everyone in the Abergavenny and District Steam Society for their help…click here to visit the Society's website.
THERE'S A TREMENDOUS SELECTION OF MODERN TRACTION TOO!
As mentioned above, the Colour-Rail collection has provided a valuable source of material for publishers over the years, therefore the launch of 'A Colour-Rail Journey' by Paul Chancellor and Ron White is most welcome; it is the first book compiled jointly by both men and presents the choicest gems from the Colour-Rail collection, with the captions written by Ron White in his typically humorous style. The majority of pictures have never been seen in print before and not issued as a slide. Indeed all images have been carefully selected to offer a geographical tour of Britain's rail network, including many unusual subjects and locations of BR steam, but diesels also appear as do Irish scenes and trams and a small section featuring foreign motive power. 240 colour photos. 128 pages. Laminated hardback…all in all, great read!
Polite notice: All text and Colour-Rail photographs are protected by copyright and reproduction is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of © Colour-Rail. If you wish to view the contents of the Colour-Rail Search Page, click on the link below...
