British Steam in Colour: London to Aberdeen from the Bill Reed Collection - Softcover

The pictures in this book were chosen from the many hundreds of 35mm colour slides Bill Reed took on and off the route stretching from London to Aberdeen. Station scenes, views on works and in sheds are featured. They roughly cover a period from 1951 to 1967 and depict the last gasp of steam before the introduction of diesels. As if on some imaginary journey, the book begins at King's Cross station wanders over to Liverpool Street steps into Great Eastern country then meanders north to finish at Aberdeen. It is noticeable that Bill has depicted marvellously the post WWII atmosphere on the railways when steam was on its last legs; the vast majority of the locomotives are in a very grimy condition and a number are seen on the scrap line. There is also evidence of how complicated and labour intensive it was to run a steam engine the vast coal hoppers and water tanks are examples to this submission. Looking back now at the 1950s and 1960s, Bill says he would have taken many more pictures of steam locomotives. But that is no matter, he has taken enough to give us more than a hint of what it was like in those last days.

Peter Tuffrey was born in Doncaster in 1953. He studied Fine Art at Doncaster College of Art and then at Leeds University until 1974. He held the position of Keeper of Fine and Decorative Arts at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery 1975-1995, was a freelance writer 1995-2000, and PR Media Consultant for Doncaster Rovers 2000-2002. He was Area Manager for the Music Ground Group of Companies 2003-2010. He is now working as a freelance writer. He has produced over 80 publications including Working and Preserved Industrial Locomotives, British Steam -King's Cross to Aberdeen, Sheffield Pubs Landlords and Landladies, Doncaster's Plant Works, Rotherham from the Scrivens Collection, Bakewell & the White Peak, and the Last Days of Steam in Nottinghamshire. He has also written many articles for local and regional newspapers and has recently penned a novel Angel from the Gutter.