My railway interest started in 1973 whilst at school in Bentham, Yorkshire. The line from Helifield to Carnforth passed by and soon a Locoshed book was obtained and trainspotting began.
We lived not far from the West Coast mainline and many a happy day was spent at Lancaster Castle station. The section of line was still in the process of being electrified to Preston so Diesels ruled and class 50`s and 40`s were commonplace. Sadly my interest in Photography hadn`t started so I have very little to show for this period save a few tatty spotting books and ABC`s.
In 1974 we moved to Birmingham and my parents had the good sense to buy a house near Sutton Park. A freight only line from the NE-SW line to Walsall/Bescot yard was nearby and so after school most of my time was spent fishing in a nearby lake and spotting. A great variety of freight and locos used this line, including Peaks, 40`s, 25`s, 47`s and even class 52 Westerns.
My grandparents lived in Eaglescliffe on Teeside and so I visited as often as I could and Thornaby station became my favourite location. The station had a faded grandeur about it, the red brick buildings were past their best and it still retained the orange enamel signs, one of which I now have in my collection! When the station was demolished I was devastated especially as the replacement was the bus shelter look typical of B.R. at the time.
My paper rounds enabled me to travel widely and soon I had my first true SLR camera, a Praktica TTL.
The only problem was affording the film and developing! I have some good record shots of the period 1974-1977. Growing bored with just number spotting and having “classed” pretty well everything I purchased an Olympus OM1n and started recording the changing scene through the late 1970`s into the 80`s.
I went to Sheffield Polytechnic in 1979-81. The Business faculty was next to Midland station, so I spent as much time as I could photographing the Peaks and 40`s which were prevalent at this time.
Sheffield Victoria station was derelict but you could enter pretty easily and so I have some good shots of the Woodhead 76`s in their final days. Doncaster was a short train ride and the last years of the Deltics were recorded. The railways were changing fast and many classes of diesel were being phased out, sadly purchasing film/developing cost and student poverty limited the number of outings.
After Polytechnic I went back to Birmingham and started my career in sales and marketing and railway photography took a back seat. However, as the class 40`s were being scrapped I travelled and photographed widely, going back to my old North West haunts, Preston and Wigan.
A career move led me up the A38 to Derby and I settled there and met my wife Jan. Married life and railways didn’t mix and so railways took a back seat from then on!
My interest in railways was re-ignited in 2008 when I saw an advert for Sheffield Railwayana auctions, there was an opportunity to buy a B.R. tangerine enamel from Thornaby station.
My first auction was not a success and I was outbid despite going over my set limit! However, the Railwayana bug had taken hold and I started visiting most auctions from then on. I now collect diesel worksplates, nameplates and station enamels especially from the North East.
Fast forward to now and justaclickago was purchased from Tony Hoskins in June 2019. He has done a sterling job (along with Kaz) and I hope to carry on their good work.
I will be updating the website and hope to add some functionality and improvements to the online auctions.
Simon Stewart.