Farewell to Peter Gray and John Edgington

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THE railway world has been in mourning following the deaths of John Edgington and Peter Gray, two of the country’s best-loved lineside photographers.

Peter, who lived in Torquay, has died at the age of 89 from complications following pneumonia.

GWR 2-6-2T No. 4588 at Yelverton in February 1962. COLOUR-RAIL.COM / PETER GRAY BRW913

He was particularly renowned for his colour pictures of main lines and branches in the West Country, particularly in the Beeching era, which were in much demand from publishers over several decades.

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He wrote the weekly Rail Trail feature in the Herald Express newspaper.

He had also been a volunteer on what is now the Dartmouth Steam Railway, and also on the South Devon Railway.

LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 45123 pilots another class member on the 3.40pm Inverness-Buchanan Street services in July 1957. COLOUR-RAIL.COM / JOHN EDGINGTON SC575

Peter, who never married, came from a strong railway background. His father worked at Paddington station and then at Torquay, where his mother also worked.

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He took his first railway photographs in Iraq while serving in the Army in the late Forties. He saw two British locomotives at Basra and borrowed a camera to photograph them.

He joined the South West Electricity Board when he came home in 1948, and spent his weekends photographing trains.

Read more in Issue 235 of HR – on sale now!

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