1074 Western Cameraman

Welcome, my name is Andy.

I was born in Swindon, home of the GWR Works, and I have lived in Wiltshire all my life. 

My Grandfather was a Coppersmith in the GWR Works for his entire working life. I have the ‘gold’ watch he was given by BR on his retirement in 1963. He worked on the construction of ‘Evening Star’, the last steam locomotive built by BR to work on the UK railway network.

My earliest recollection of seeing a Western was D1011 ‘Western Thunderer’ in the late 1960s, near where I lived.

Eventually I saw every Western in service, the last one being D1051 ‘Western Ambassador’ which I saw at Paddington on 4th July 1970 according to my spotter’s notebook.

I combined my boyhood hobby of trainspotting with an early interest in photography which was passed on by my Dad. Collecting numbers evolved into creating a collection of railway photographs and cine films. I have hundreds of photos and some cine film yet to be shared. Please stay in touch by subscribing to the channel.