Each pack features ten colour photos, a cover sheet, an illustrated listing and a storage wallet. All for £6.50 including postage and packing. So a cheaper way for you to collect phots in a themed set. Have a look at our Ebay page "transporttopicsuk" for the sets and new test shots that are not on the website yet.

That's it folks.

All the half decent images from the long lost colour files have been added to the website.

This includes many pre tops shots and a good selection of classes. Class 25s, 40s and Westerns are particularly numerous as are 26s & 27s. Some Peaks in there as well.  Even a little steam. But generally a pretty broad batch.

Anyway that's all for now. Back to work on the Ken Moseley and Mike Spencer files now.

Keep watching, oh and don't forget ebay "transporttopicsuk" for the latest test shots long before they surface on the website.

All the best

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

For several years I have been wondering where a batch of files had wandered off to. Originally scanned 3 computers ago and backed up as all files should be. Anyway the computer died with the "Black screen of death", but no problem, the files were backed up. But over the years I have dipped into the two extended storage units, but could not find the files.

So I had finally reconciled myself to the re-scanning of over 500 shots, annoyed at myself with the thought that I had not backed them up after all. Then a Eureka moment. Where was the old noisy FREECOM extended storage that from where I had downloaded all (but not all) the files to the two new storage units. Half an hour of searching produced the Freecom extended storage under the scanner table neatly packed away in a plain cardboard box, which I thought was full of duff slides.

Low and behold once fired up there were the long lost missing files.

So I am now tidying them up a little and uploading them onto the website gradually. Including 03s, Peaks, Westerns, 26s, 27s, 37s and more up to date shots. Plus lot's of corporate blue/yellow. Diesel, electrics and a few steam Too numerous to list everything here, so you need to view the website again or maybe do a few searches.

Anyway, I am now back to scanning more of the Mike Spencer files, maybe a third of the way through now. So keep watching.

Regards

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

Some of you will already be aware and some of you won't be aware of the fact that we also sell on Ebay via "transporttopicsuk".

We usually put our new test shots on Ebay long before we upload them on the website as individual photos or in batches of 10 at a reduced price. The batches usually go to offers very quickly as they are popular so you have to be watching and be quick. Most going on at the moment are new scans from the Ken Moseley and Mike Spencer collections with a few others.

So keep watching Ebay "transporttopicsuk" if you want to be ahead of the game.

That's all for now apart from reminding you that the website is growing all the time, mainly at the moment with shots from the 1980s and 1990s. So lots of corporate blue and yellow as well as Trainload and other liveries.

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

AI, an emotive subject at the moment across many fields and genres. But let us think about railway images. When does Artificial Intelligence become Altered Images?

More and more AI is invading our everyday life, and dare I say it the presentation of images, and in our case, particularly railway images. My view is that the images we see on line should be an historically accurate image that is not manipulated to add items or indeed take them away. So if the signal is in front of the engine that you have photographed, it should stay there as part of the historical scene. Similarly, if an annoying chimney in the background appears to be sticking out of the cab roof of the class 55 it should stay. To change the image would make it an "Altered Image"!

This is also applies to these fake images that are an abomination with extra rails, wrong tenders, junctions at right angles, wrong numbers, imagined name boards, head on shots of an express while standing in the running track etc, you know the ones. Have a look at "Timeless History" and such like. These are actually more that and altered image and are more of an imagination engineering project.

But, and it is a big but, what about applications that use AI to remove dust, repair a scratch, improve exposure or brightness, restore colour or sharpen. Well let us think about that. Isn't this the type of thing we have been doing for years, first in the dark room and then with Photoshop or similar. And to make this even more difficult many of the tools we now use to improve a print are AI driven. So what I am saying is AI tidied images are acceptable as long as we don't remove or add to the image. And what about colourisation of mono images. I personally am not a big fan as it often changes the image slightly, changing loco numbers and signage, but I have seen some excellent examples presented.

I also think that where AI has been used to manipulate an image strongly or an image is colourised this should be mentioned when presenting and image. (I know many of you do this already).

So my own view is:

Altered Images - No

Colourized Images - Maybe

Tidied Images - Acceptable.

These are the rules that TRANSPORT TOPICS will try our best to adhere to.

Anyway, as I said an emotive subject, and I know some of you will have a different view to me, and I can live with that, no problem. Perhaps one or two of you could add to the blog with your thoughts or experience of Artificial Intelligence or Altered Images.

All the best for now....

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

We are currently working on several collections for eventual upload onto the website. A mixture of mono negs, colour negs and slides.

But we would be grateful on for any guidance on which we should concentrate on and tackle first. You views would be welcome and appreciated. Give me an idea from the following options:

1. Mono Steam

2. Mike Spencer collection - Diesels/Electrics 1988-1992 Colour Negs

3. Class 60 colour negs

4. Colour slides diesels/electrics early 1990s

5. North American Diesels.

6. Class 47 TOPS Colour negs

7. Class 33 TOPS Colour negs

8. Brian Lockwood Mono negs Diesels & Electrics 1968 - 1972

9. Carry on with a bit of everything.

10. Something specific that I have not listed.

The choice is yours.

Drop us a message via this blog, email, Facebook etc.

Just a reminder that we also sell individual photos of locomotives and test packs of 10 photos on ebay via "transporttopicsUK".

These are often listed long before they appear in the catalogue or on the website, especially in the case of the sample packs.

So that's it today, short and sweet.

Regards

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

We are already well into 2026 and we are catching up after dipping in and out of things over the festive period.

We have secured a nice batch of images recently including class 25s and class 40s which will be added to the website in due course. Also of course the Mike Spencer shots are still rolling on at a fair pace, as we are now scanning the files from 1991. A bit of a backlog there to upload though. We have also uploaded a large batch of mono steam shots from our medium/large format neg files that have been lingering in the files for several years.

And speaking of uploading and the website, we have added hundreds of images since the last blog, too many to list here obviously, but if you dip into the files I would hope there is something new there to catch your eye.

Anyway, have a great new year and I hope to hear from you soon.

Regards

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

We are just about to go into the second month of advertising in two magazines, namely Railway Magazine and Railways Illustrated. But how do we gauge success? In the first month should it be purely on sales or should it be on engagement.

Sales are up, although not spectacularly with Ebay doing pretty well. But that could just be down to the content rather than advertising. However the website hits are through the roof. If every one who has hit the website just spent £10.00 I could take that 3 month Caribbean cruise, But as it stands a weekend in the Peak District is more realistic...but I will take that.

From previous experience the second and third months of advertising start to bare fruit, so fingers crossed.

I will of course be drip feeding more items onto the website with more mono from the 50s & 60s, plus corporate blue and yellow era images particularly class 25s, 40s and 45s. Plus the usual superb shots from Mike Spencer.

Finally we are always on the look out for good quality images to add to the collection. British Railways diesels from the Pre-Tops era, especially BR Green liveried examples. But anything considered. Buy or borrow depending on your expectation.

Anyway, have a good Christmas or Yule depending on your beliefs. Enjoy the Winter Solstice and if you get bored during the break, why not fill your time and empty your bank account buying a few photographs from our collection.

Ta ta for now

Martin

Just to let you know our little break is over.

We have tidied a few things in the background, uploaded more shots and sorted a few thousand more images ready for scanning. This means our turnaround time on print orders is back to normal.

Thanks for your patience and hopefully I will see one or two orders trickling through.

Very Best 

Martin

So any orders sent after Tuesday 12th August may take a while to be returned as we are looking to slow things down from around the 22nd August for a few weeks. Orders can still be sent but the prints returned may be outside our usual 7-10 day turnaround.

We will of course upload a new blog as soon as we are firing on all cylinders again.

I will also take this opportunity to thank our occasional and regular customers for their support. For a small outfit like TRANSPORT TOPICS your continued interest and custom is greatly appreciated.

Very best

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

Just to remind all of you that we are very active on Facebook with news, posts and offers.

Why not follow us for deals, discounts and news. It costs you nothing and you can keep up to date.

That's it, short and sweet this time.

Regards

Martin

Those that follow us on Facebook via "Transport Topiics UK" will already be aware that I am going to ease up on the Mike Spencer negatives for a while to concentrate on other collections and to catch up with uploading images onto the website.

We are going to get back to the Ken Mosley, Jon Smith and Brian Lockwood collections, plus we are working on a batch of 126 negatives loaned to us by David James which features Deltics. The Deltics are a tricky project as my scanners are set up for 35mm and medium/large format. Hopefully patience and some jiggery pokery will win the day.

So basically it comes down to you dipping in to see whats new and keeping up with future blogs and updates on Facebook.

Regards and happy collecting....

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

Yes that's it, simple.

I will be running of a few thousand test shots over the next few weeks. All colour, diesel & electric locos mainly. If anyone would like a selection of 100 random diesel/electric shots for £25.00 get in touch and I will give you further details including payment process.

Max 5 batches per person (500 Photos)

Short and sweet.......

Regards

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

Couldn't sleep, up with the larks, cramp in the big toe and then "Ideas" running through my brain......watch this space!

Any way, just thought I would let you know that the Mike Spencer collection is now being added to the website on a regular basis. Also many more test shots coming back soon. Most of the current set of shots cover the 1986-1987 period. Locations include Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Bournemouth, Poole, Reading, Exeter St Davids plus a few other locations.

Classes uploaded or to add include class 20, 33, 31, 37, 47, 50, 56, 58 etc

Easy to find by going to the photographers file on the website and looking for the Mike Spencer folder. Or contact us for more details of Mikes collection and other.

Also coming soon, a fairly large batch of corporate blue and yellow liveried locos including class 24, 25 and 40s.

So that's it, short and brief.

Have a great day.

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

The winner of the February 2025 draw is Martin Poulter.

Although not an overwhelming success we are going to persevere and have a March draw...read on.

The same qualification criteria in that you have to order at least one print via the website. For every photo ordered you qualify for one entry, so ten photos ordered equals 10 entries etc. This months prize is 50 random 6" x 4" colour photos from the Mike Spencer collection which we are working on at the moment. So far we have covered 1986 and much of 1987 with locations such as Bournemouth, Poole, Glasgow Queen Street, Edinburgh Waverley, Eastfield and Inverness, among others.

So cross your fingers and get those orders through.

Regards and good luck

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

BIG NEWS. I have been made redundant from my job at BEALE WILDLIFE PARK after the best part of 10 years. I am disappointed but not bitter as I can now have some lay ins and stay in the warm and dry rather than pre dawn starts in the cold and wet. Anyway enough of that as we need to move on.

What it does mean is that I can devote more time to my other job, the photo library at TRANSPORT TOPICS. So more scanning, hopefully more sales (That's up to you) and with a bit of luck more published images in books and magazines. I can now make more inroads into the as yet unscanned and unlisted negs and slides. Plus of course I can work on the tens of thousands of more modern digital images.

We were hoping to crash through the 33,000 hits on the website in 2024 but alas we just nudged it at a final figure of 32,929. So I know how the English football team feels now, almost there but not quite.

So I will be semi-retired again, as this will be my third early retirement but with a probability that I will be busier than ever but down a different route. Twice I have come out of retirement for BEALE WILDLIFE PARK but this time I very much doubt I will be going back as I have too much to do to catch up on the many things I should have been doing.

Very best for 2025

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

It's the end of the year and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you that have purchased from the website, catalogues, ebay and direct via various communications. Also I would like to thank those that have not actually bought anything but have taken the time to view the website. The number of hits obviously helps spread the word. In fact the website is just short of 33,000 hits. Which I feel is pretty good considering we were until very recently a part time operation and do not advertise the site in the Railway press......yet!

As usual we are fighting against the thousands of slides and negs that we have and that keep on arriving. It is gratifying that several photographers have entrusted their work to TRANSPORT TOPICS in the last 12 months or so.

So I ask you to keep dipping into the website to see what is new and to also view our auctions and sales on Ebay via "Transporttopicsuk".

Finally if you would like to donate any masters to the cause we would be more than happy to consider them. Early diesel shots, British Railways Steam, Colour or Mono.......but don't tell the wife.

So all that is left is to wish all of you a happy and hopefully prosperous new year....and keep clicking.

Martin & Teresa

At TRANSPORT TOPICS/britishrailwayphotographs.com

It came up in conversation the other day whether we will concentrate on any particular field or will we keep spreading the load.

I admit that the majority of our shots are diesel locos but there are of course thousands of subjects across the other mentioned categories.

If you are a first time viewer or indeed a regular viewer, it would be interesting to know what you would like to see or which folders you go to first. Do you always look at the same type of shot or do you bounce around?

Let me know. As well as trying to make a penny or two I also want the subject matter to be interesting to you, even if you are just viewing. The more hits the site gets, the better it is.

Thanks

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

I was thinking about life the other day and where all the years have gone. September popped into my mind as it is quite a significant month in my timeline and that of Transport Topics. September 1st 2024 marks the Ruby Wedding anniversary for Teresa and myself, yes forty years. Also September is the month of my mums death in the same year as the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.

However if we are thinking Transport Topics, September 1988 was the month that we issued our first ever duplicate slide list, which was born out of the minor encouragement of Ron Smith at Colour-Rail. Ron had accepted 14 of my slides for use in the Colour-Rail catalogue which was an honour. However it was only a small proportion of the slides I had sent for viewing, so if I remember rightly, Teresa said "Why don't you do your own catalogue?" instead of selling through Colour-Rail. Well 36 years later we are still at it, same owner, same name and without a break, and still trying to make a penny or two.

I couldn't quantify how many prints and slides we have sold over the years, but suffice to say as a small concern we have peaks and troughs depending on how much time and effort I can put in around full time employment. I have taken early retirement twice (First when I was 55) and used the time to push forward, but my services have been needed elsewhere with invitations to return to old employment. But the aim is to retire early for the third time late next year and then concentrate more on Transport Topics, until my state pension finally arrives, ready to probably sell the business or at least a vast proportion of the master slides and negs, probably over 100,000 images by then at a date yet to be determined.

With collections often coming in, or at least being offered to us, running Transport Topics is never dull. Sometimes a little tedious looking at the stacks of slide boxes and negative sleeves still to wade through. But once sections are scanned the results always encourages me to do more. But I am always behind schedule.

Since 1988 we have been fortunate to have made some very good friends and acquaintances, many of whom have sold me whole collections, part collections or rented me images. Names like Marsden, Ford, Canning, Hill etc etc etc. Probably over 100 people all told, who we are eternally grateful to. Even though I will be scanning until I am 168 years old at this rate, I still welcome the chance to take on collections so that they are not just "Disposed" of. But I have to be more fussy as we try to aim for rare, interesting, old and of course good quality.

When I do finally retire from the Zoo that I have worked at for (On and off) 8 years I will miss the place. The animals are a lot more chilled that a lot of humans, even the Carnivores. They are all characters who brighten the day even when you have been dealing with blocked toilets, first aid calls, staff concerns and weather. The Zoo is a far cry from my previous life in Sales and Marketing both at Manager and Director level. A lot more rewarding and not quite so stressful.

So what was the purpose of this blog?.....I honestly haven't got a clue. Probably just started rambling to break up the time between completing orders, scanning for publications, and scanning for the catalogue. Sometimes you just need a Vanilla Latte and a half hour break to stoke up the engine and get going again.

So I wish you a good day, and please keep buying the shots, my retirement is relying on it!

Bye for now.

Martin

It's a long shot, but I am looking for good quality master negatives or slides taken at Reading Central/Coley Goods or the branch line to the yard for a project. I am willing to purchase or pay a small fee to borrow if they are of a good enough standard. If purchasing I would require the transfer of copyright.

If you can help please do get in touch.

Regards

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

After our little tidy up things have taken off again with several collections either in for scanning or arriving shortly.

I am of course continuing with the archive backlog but have recently been working through a collection taken by Jon Smith which is quite varied including diesel and electric subjects. As yet these are not listed in the catalogue or on the website but as time allows they will be integrated.

I am also re-visiting the Brian Lockwood and Ian Ball collections which have been in our possession for many years. This includes black & white diesel and electric negs from the 1960s & 70s plus more modern slides through the 1990s. I originally dipped into these collections to get the ball rolling but as other masters arrived I parked them for when I had more time!

The next collection due is from the camera of Ken Mosley, which are all medium format colour slides. Again diesels and electrics are to the fore. I am indebted to Nigel Mack for loaning me the masters and I hope I can get these images scanned and uploaded in a reasonable time, 8,000 odd masters I am told.

So with the new collections and the older ones that I am re-visiting, I reckon we will be sifting through around 15,000 images. Not all will be uploaded to the website for various reasons, double images, subject already covered etc. But I will be viewing every image with the help of eye drops and copious amounts of Coffee.

So as always I hope you will keep dipping in to see what is being uploaded. Also keep and eye on 'transporttopicsuk' on Ebay where we sell our test shots and the remainder of our Duplicate Slide stock. our 6" x 4" test shots.

Finally if you have been keeping up to date with the goings on here at TRANSPORT TOPICS you will be aware that I retired again, with the aim of taking things a bit easier and getting out of a job situation which had developed from a dream job into a nightmare due to a "more senior" member of staff changing all the processes and basically operating above her capabilities. This was going to allow me more time to scan, list and catalogue. Well that member of staff has 'Left' and I have been asked back to tidy things up and get things back to normal. So back in employment with less time to concentrate on TRANSPORT TOPICS, so back to long evenings with the scanner.

Thanks for reading the waffle.

Best Regards

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

Thank you so much for your interest in the website during August, it was our best ever month for website hits.

I wonder if we can keep the momentum going as we are adding shots on a regular basis with potentially two big collections to be added soon.

Keep watching.

Very Best

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

A little bit of news that may help you in your searches for new items and individual photographers.

From now on we are adding a "NEW UPLOADS" gallery to our site which will feature all the recent additions to the website. This will be a single file which will be updated as we upload images and could feature railways, maritime or road transport. It will be a general gallery with no partition to keep things simple. So if you are one of our website watchers that like to keep up to date with new arrivals, your life should be made easier. The items dropped into this gallery will also be placed into their correct categories withing the main site. We will date the file and clear when it is getting too large and repopulate with the next flow of images. No knowing what subjects will be in there in advance as I am working through the old catalogues via catalogue number and new items appear on an ad-hoc basis as they arrive. Have a look now and see what you think.

Also we are going ahead with individual photographer galleries, which I will start populating soon. These will sit in their own folder and will be split via galleries. Not sure who we will start with so any suggestions from our known photographers or if you have a favourite photographer, Marsden, Canning, Hill, Ford etc let me know. I will say that I will have to have a substantial number of shots from a photographer for them to be featured. This will of course be a work in progress. On this point I have another photographer who I am working with at the moment that has a very eclectic collection which I hope to start uploading soon.

So thank you all for your continued interest in TRANSPORT TOPICS and the website, and please keep dipping in from time to time.

Regards

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

www.britishrailwayphotographs.com

The website is developing nicely with a good varied batch of images. We are concentrating on the UK railway side at the moment as this seems to be where the most interest is. However foreign railways, buses and further maritime images will be dribbled through and maybe blitzed if I get the urge.

Now it has been suggested that I create a section/folder on the website for contributors images where there are enough to warrant this. So a separate gallery for the images of Colin Marsden, David Canning, Michael Hill, Darren Ford, Robert Tarling and so on. This would allow viewers to search a specific photographers work a lot easier. This would be a duplication of images already on the website, just arranged in a different way.

But before I go down this route, which would be quite labour intensive, I need to gauge whether enough of you think it is a good idea or if you think it would just be a waste of my time, after all I am trying to make a few pennies out of the website? Would you be likely to look at a gallery dedicated to a single photographer, would it be useful etc?

So your input would be appreciated before a decision is made. So reply to the blog, email us [email protected] or message me via messenger. I will leave the decision open until Monday August 14th 2023

Also all those that give an opinion will go into a draw for a free TRANSPORT TOPICS sample pack of 50x 6" x 4" prints of our choice, only one winner and our decision is of course final.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

Just to let you know that Hinkleyantiques are using 'British Railway Photographs' as a watermark on Ebay and they are nothing to do with us.

They probably have no idea that this website exists, so I must give them the benefit of the doubt.

Just didn't want there to be any confusion.

that's all folks

Update on THE PROJECT

Yes we have finally broken through the 6,500 image marker on the website.

This has been achieved mainly by loading up many more shots from Michael Hill, Bob Cragg and Andrew Wiltshire. A batch of 47s plus numerous corporate rail blue images. The usual crop of 37s have also added to the totals.

As mentioned before and on social media, we will be adding more maritime and buses to the website once this blitz on the existing catalogue images reaches a suitable stage of completion.

So THE PROJECT trundles on, and soon I should be able to give it my full attention rather than a part time effort, so you will see an acceleration in the growth of the website. Also of course if you would like to donate any images to the cause or talk to me about re-numeration for any master shots please get in touch. I am particularly partial to green diesels and hydraulics....but aren't we all

Now I must thank our new customers and existing customers for their custom. It is appreciated. Although we will never get rich running TRANSPORT TOPICS, it is nice to make some profit so that more images can be sourced and made available to enthusiasts and collectors alike.

So have a great summer, get out there with the cameras and record the history of UK transport now, as it changes all too rapidly.

Very Best

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

Not the biggest site but growing every week with the help of Colin Marsden, Darren Ford, David Canning, Michael Hill, Bob Tarling, Dave Campbell, Arthurs Cannings and many more.

Don't forget to dip in every now and then to see what is new.

Any requests, then send me a message. Anything pre 1960s is a little hit or miss, but we are fairly well covered from late 60s onwards.

Also a big thank you to our customers, you make it all worthwhile.

All the best

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

Many will have seen the mention of THE PROJECT on our Facebook page and other links.

The reason for THE PROJECT is the fact that I have the attention span of a Goldfish, so if I don't organise things into a project things can drift on and on. So THE PROJECT is a way of me focusing on the mammoth task of uploading our images from negs, slides and digital to the website. With 10s of thousands to go I doubt we will ever complete the task to it's conclusion, however we are giving it a bash.

The uploads are and will be a very eclectic mix, so the only easy way for you to keep up is by dipping into the website from time to time. We have images from hundreds of photographers so the style will be varied, some you will like, some maybe not.

We are also happy to have mistakes corrected. We take info from the mounts or wallets and sometimes these are devoid of much information or the details maybe a little bit off. Let us know, we would prefer to have a correction rather than the wrong info.

ALSO, keep viewing our pages on Facebook, it's a good way of seeing what is going on and a way to get a feel of the type of images we are uploading.

Well that's it for now.

All the best

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

& britishrailwayphotographs.

With some good bulk purchases of slides and some selected via Ebay we feel that the Shipping section is now showing a good cross section of vessels from around the world. At the moment we are still working through master slides, but in time I will resort to my humble digital offerings from the UK, Europe, USA and Canada.

I should also remind you that our Rail and Bus sections are constantly growing.

With tens of thousands still to catalogue and scan this will be a constant process, so dip in regularly to see whats new.

So just a small update for now.

Have a great Christmas/Yule & new year. Catch up with you in 2023.

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

Just about on target with 95,000 to go.

Have another dip in to see what we have added. Or better still, view every week to keep on track with what we are doing.

Bus section and overseas railways both growing.

Up until the end of April 2022, all orders over £20.00 will receive a free bonus pack from our stock.

Always looking for more images though, particularly early diesels, but anything considered.

Catch up soon hopefully.

We have recently acquired quite a few steam images both colour slide and mono negatives.

So in due course we shall be scanning, tidying and adding to our catalogue and this website. Also we are sorting through a large batch of North American images which are already being uploaded onto the website. In addition a few early diesels are being picked up here and there, so a fairly fruitful January 2022.

If there are any particular subjects you would like to see uploaded, let me know. No promises as this hobby of ours is vast and preferences are varied.

Finally, anyone out there with spare, unwanted, double slides or negs of transport subjects. Get in touch as we are alwyas looking to expand the library.

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

I attended his cremation on the 12th November which was a solemn but also joyous occasion. I met up with his close family and friends in Pontypridd.

Inevitably the chat got around to railways and such like.

So I felt it only right, that as Steve had a love of Great Western railcars, I should update our header page with a GWR railcar image.

This will remain in place for a while to remind us of Steve and his passion.

He finally lost the fight at 4:15 on the 16th October this year.

I had known Steve for many years, originally buying many of his master European slides. Our contact grew into a friendship and we attended open days together, selling our photos as well as bumping into each other on occasions in car parks and on aqueducts.

A proud Welshman we often had friendly banter over sport. He only ever seemed to contact me regarding sport when Wales beat England at Rugby. Funny that.

He finally found the perfect match, or some would say the "Better Half". Helen was supportive of his interests and was his rock. They had too little time together, but at least it was happy time. And yes it was at an open day that I first met Helen, and I could see that they were made for each other.

Although we didn't see each other often, I will obviously miss Steve. I am honoured that he wanted me to take on his website and to hopefully grow it in a way Steve would have approved of.

So in closing, please raise a glass to Steve Davies. Ex RAF, proud Welshman, devoted Husband to Helen, and of course my friend.

I have been learning about the website day by day, finding features and the best way to list items for search purposes, a steep learning curve indeed. What is reassuring is the fact that a "Google" search will find the site quite quickly, and I am aware that the number of viewers is steadily growing month by month, and for this i thank you. Orders are also fairly steady either directly through the ordering mechanism on the website or via requested order forms.

The catalogue is still available free via request as a set of PDF files, and of course we still have an ebay site, which I know some of you use as there is a possibility of picking shots up on auction at a slightly reduced cost if they do not bid up.

We try to add images on a fairly regular basis with many to add from COLIN MARSDEN, DAVID CANNING and others in the future, with many thousands still to scan covering the 1950's through to modern day.

And yes, thanks to your feedback we will be adding a Bus/Road section as well as a Maritime section in the future, so please keep watching and spreading the word.

Thank You 

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS

If you are after any particular subjects why not drop us a line, as I estimate as of this date we only have around 5% of our images uploaded.

Thank You

Martin at TRNSPORT TOPICS

Steve has stepped down and offered me the chance of rekindling the site, with new images from the TRANSPORT TOPICS library. We are still finding our feet and need to list things in a certain way to allow the search function to work properly, but we will get there. Slow progress but every day we get a little better.

In the mean time, have a scout around, bare with us, and if you have any requests of a railway nature, give us a shout. I would say we are mainly diesel based with a good selection of electric and steam images.....but growing all the time.

Regards

Martin at TRANSPORT TOPICS