With a collection of well over 17,000 negatives and thousands of transparencies, Bill considered that he had covered the general railway scene in Scotland pretty thoroughly with particular emphasis on the less glamorous aspects. In later years, he also travelled extensively photographing steam in Turkey, South Africa et al.
Throughout he used the same camera a Ensign Selfix 16-20 folding 120 roll camera that he purchased second-hand early in 1954 for the princely sum of £13. Latterly he also had a Baldex 2.25″ square camera in reserve. His final camera was a Mamiya 645 which now resides with his negatives and slides in the archive. Almost all his travelling in the early years was done by train, behind steam if possible.
The second print that Bill had published was in the Railway Magazine in 1952 after his first appearance in print which was in the Meccano Magazine in 1945 with an article on the LNER Clyde Steamer Fleet. The Clyde Steamers were another of Bill’s passions and his collection includes many pictures of them at work.
We undertook Bill’s printing for many years before his sudden death when we were privileged to have his extensive collection bequeathed by his long-time partner Doris to The Transport Treasury for safe keeping.
