Steam Memories No 4: Footplate Cameraman North and West

Patricroft steam driver Jim Carter clearly enjoyed his job. He also loved to take photographs of the locomotives he worked on, and became known as ‘The Footplate Cameraman’. His collection is a fabulous record of the final years of steam in North West England, from the dual point of view of both railwayman and enthusiast. His stunning photographs illustrate a variety of ex-LMSR and BR Standard steam locomotives with a few interesting examples of early diesel traction thrown in. We ‘access all areas’ at his home shed of Patricroft and visit other places that are today completely unrecognisable. In fact, if you visited some of these locations today, you wouldn’t know there had ever been a railway there. Mr Carter’s photographs take us on two nostalgic journeys: one from south to north along the West Coast Main Line through Lancashire from industrial Warrington into the wilds of Westmorland, then we follow much of the historic route of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway from east to west, before terminating at Chester.