Trainspotting Days

Trainspotting is still a very popular pastime today despite the dramatically changed railway landscape of the 21st century, but for boys ‘of a certain age’ nothing can replace the heady days of
train-watching and number-taking in the age of steam.

Most railway photographers went to great lengths to omit fellow enthusiasts from their pictures, but somehow many still managed to get themselves included, while some groups of spotters were deliberately captured on film, providing us with almost achingly nostalgic reminders of those far-off, more innocent days.

The schoolboy on the platform end with his cap and blazer or gabardine mac (even before the days of the infamous ‘anorak’), short trousers, duffel-bag and notebook is an enduring image,
and is captured here in this unique and evocative selection of photographs, carefully chosen by Will Adams specifically to portray the spotter in his natural habitat. With images drawn not only from well-known railway photographers, but also from individual spotters’ collections, here is a treasury of memories.