railway nostalgia
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From the archive: 42 years ago, Arthur Miller looked back on three decades of railway enthusiasm
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In the August 1984 issue of The Railway Magazine, Arthur Miller’s “Thirty Years On” looked back to the dawn of his railway enthusiasm. Having travelled over all the British Railways passenger lines in Great Britain then carrying a regular timetabled service, he reflected on the journeys, changes and experiences of the previous three decades. A…
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Recreating the past
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Railway photography for me is about two things: a record for capturing a point in time to preserve a memory and an art form to create a great-looking image. Sometimes for me that is to recreate an essence of how things used to be. I’m always looking out for a composition that takes me back…
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Fantastic February Fares: the £12 BR loophole that turned into an all-line adventure
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In February 1986, British Rail offered bargain saver fares which enabled the creative enthusiast the chance to travel all around the country for peanuts. I mean, you’d obviously go from Coventry to Thurso via Portsmouth, wouldn’t you? Pip Dunn did… Loopholes. I’m sure we’ve all exploited them at one time to another. Rail enthusiasts certainly…
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From The Railway Magazine, December 1979: Bodmin returns to service on the Mid-Hants “Watercress” Line
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This verbatim article is taken from an old issue of The Railway Magazine and reports on a September 22 ceremony at Alresford Station. The extract covers the restored ex-Southern Railway express locomotive BR No. 34016, Bodmin, its renaming, return to service, and restoration background. Renaming at Alresford Station ON Saturday, September 22 (as reported on…
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Blue and Grey Beginnings: A First Encounter with the InterCity 125
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Chris Gee recalls seeing his first High Speed Train on August 2, 1980, during a family journey to Newquay. This archive-style personal reflection charts his early impressions, later encounters, and a final farewell to the iconic InterCity 125 in its original blue and yellow livery. First Sight – August 2, 1980 The iconic HSTs were…
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Remembering British Rail’s Class 03 Shunters
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Small, characterful and often overlooked, British Rail’s Class 03 shunters played a vital role across the network, quietly breaking up the visual and operational monotony of the more numerous Class 08s. Though diminutive in stature, the 03s proved themselves to be remarkably capable machines and became a familiar sight in yards, docks and stations across…
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Recreating the Past: Why Railway Photography Still Chases the Spirit of the 1980s
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Railway photography has always been more than documentation. For many enthusiasts, it is about capturing a fleeting moment in time — preserving memories while also creating images that echo the atmosphere of a vanished railway era. In this reflective feature from Railways Illustrated (December 2025), photographer Chris Gee explores why recreating the look and feel…
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Living Life in the Past Lane: Recreating 1980s Scottish Railways in Photographs
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Railway photography is both a historical record and an art form — a way of freezing a moment in time while capturing atmosphere, memory and emotion. For photographer Chris Gee, it is also about recreating the feel of the past, particularly the early 1980s, by carefully composing images that could plausibly have been taken decades…
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