On 26/07/2011 15:47, Andy Breen wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:32:10 +0100, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 26/07/2011 14:15, Andy Breen wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:52:54 +0100, Graeme Wall wrote:
Supplementary question, when did the railways start taking 'builders'
photos' of new engines?
I think the answer there would be "as soon as there was a photographer
in the town", or at least one who charged rates they were prepared to
pay.
In places like Swindon, Crewe, Doncaster and so on I suspect any
enterprising photographer would have been keen to quote special rates to
a customer who was going to be good for repeat business for a long
period of time.
I'd expect so, too. Even more so in Manchester where they could tap into
work for Beyers, Sharps, the M&SL.. or on Tyneside, where they could
do jobs for Stephensons, Hawthorns, the NER at Gateshead, the N&C at
Blaydon - and the S&D at Darlington weren't that far away. Similarly
for other big industrial concentrations.
Actually, it'd be interesting to see whether the private builders or
the companies were the first to make extensive use of photographs.
I can see it being a real advantage to a builder, being able to show
pictures of their product off to new clients...
My money would be on the private builders leading the way.
Not a locomotive builder's photograph, but the Stockton and Darlington
were evidently proud enough of their new viaduct at Hownes Gill in
1858 to have it photographed (with a Hackworth vertical-cylinder-
and-countershaft locomotive on it..). I'm looking at the picture in
Tomlinson right now. The S&D also had their 2-4-0 Rokeby photographed
after its 1860 rebuild.
AFAIK the first photograph of any industrial artifact is one of Brunel's
ship "Great Britain", taken in 1844 when she was fitting out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SS..._by_Talbot.jpg
I'd say we're looking at a date somewhere in the 1850s..
There's actually quite a few photos of Great Eastern building, looks
like the yard, or someone (Russell?) commissioned a photographic record
for posterity. Possibly another first.
--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail