It was a family holiday in Dawlish, Devon in 1959 that was to determine my future. Staying at a holiday camp at Dawlish Warren, the sight and sound of the Western Region expresses, hauled by Kings and Castles on the railway behind the camp, proved irresistible to a young boy of eleven years. Occasionally, an unrebuilt Bulleid Pacific would appear and, every day, the up and down Cornish Riviera Express would pass by in the hands of the prototype diesel-hydraulics, Active and Ark Royal. Since that time, with only a few short breaks for other interests, railways have been the focal point of my life. At first, the hobby was about taking numbers but quickly progressed to trying to photograph the railway scene. What has proved to be both a fascinating and compelling interest has since taken me all over the world, searching for steam locomotives and old diesels, for which I have equal affection.