John Harrison GRA

Railways are the backcloth of John's life. As a boy in the 1930's the LMS was his daily scene - holidays, shopping and family visits. In the 1950's he studied for National Diploma in Design and Art Teacher's Diploma at the Liverpool College of Art.
Sketching involved frequent trips to the bustling docks, the Pier Head with trams and ferries, the Overhead Railway and the all steam Lime Street Station - all now history.
John began teaching within sight of Sutton Oak shed. He was soon running the school railway society and organising visits to the local shed, The Vulcan Foundry with English Electric diesels under construction and to Edge Hill depot where the party were photographed beside No 46220 Coronation with Type 4 diesel-electric symbolically behind.
Latterly he was Head of Art in a large comprehensive school.
Early retirement in 1988 enabled John to concentrate on 'railway' art.
John states, "...my work is unashamedly nostalgic seeking to recapture the men, machines and atmosphere of a departed way of life."

Arten Gill Viaduct

Jubilee class locomotive on Arten Gill viaduct in 1963. The construction of the Settle-Carlisle Railway was the most difficult and hazardous feat of railway engineering in England, and this is much in evidence at upper Dentdale, where the track emerges from Blea Moor Tunnel to cross two viaducts - Arten Gill and Dent Head.

Autumn of Steam

Winwick Junction on the West Coast main line in 1960. Royal Scot 46166 'London Rifle Brigade' heads an up express.

Crewe North

Crewe North - LMS Patriot class with an express train in 1937.

Dent Head Summer

Dent Head on The Settle - Carlisle Railway. The Settle & Carlisle line is Britain's only mainline mountain railway, reaching a maximum height above sea level of 356m at Ais Gill signal box, some 6 miles north of Dent Station, which at 350m above sea level is England's highest mainline railway station.

Dent Head Winter

Dent viaduct on The Settle - Carlisle Railway, seen in the 1960s with a coal train headed by a British Railways class 9F freight locomotive.

Early Snowfall at Dent Head

Dent Head on the Settle to Carlisle railway in the winter of 1962.

Homage to a Duchess

Preserved LMS Stanier pacific No. 6233 'Duchess of Sutherland' at Birmingham New Street station in 2009 with a rail tour.

Liverpool Lime Street

Liverpool Lime Street Station in the 1930's. Stanier 4-6-0 Royal Scot class engine 6132 'The King's Regiment Liverpool' enters the station whilst a Duchess class pacific prepares to leave.

Lune Gorge

Lune Gorge, Cumbria, in LMS Days. A Royal Scot class 4-6-0 heading north to Carlisle passes The Coronation Scot on a Glasgow to London express train in 1937

Memories of 8G

Sutton Oak Motive Power Depot in the early 1960's. Sutton Oak, St. Helen's engine shed - with locos of British Railways, Midland Railway and LMS designs.

Ribblehead in the Snow

Stanier 2-6-4 tank on a stopping service at Ribblehead Station in the winter of 1955.

Ribblehead Winter

The famous Ribblehead Viaduct and it's magnificent 24 Arches seen in the early 1960's. Standing some 30 meters above the floor of the Pennines, it carries the former Midland Railway main line from Settle to Carlisle.

Road to Dent Station

The road leading to Dent station on the Settle to Carlisle Railway. Dent Station is the highest mainline station in England - 1,150 feet above sea level. The Settle to Carlisle line is renowned as one of the most scenic railway journeys in the world.

The Settle & Carlisle in 2010

EWS now DB Schenker Class 66 diesel locomotive powers a coal train from Scotland to the Midlands on the Settle to Carlisle railway in the autumn of 2010. Ais Gill and Wild Boar Fell are seen in the distance.

Shing Rails

Rainford Junction Station in south west Lancashire on the former Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway line from Liverpool Exchange to Manchester Victoria. The branch line platforms to Ormskirk and Skelmersdale, seen on the right, have been removed as too are the St. Helens lines curving to the left. Only a single track survives on the main line. The signalbox remains in use as at 2011.

Smoke and Steam at Bank Quay

Warrington Bank Quay station in the 1950s. A Stanier Black 5 locomotive arrives with the daily Llandudno - Manchester Club Train that was provided for business commuters.

Smoke in the Hills

Mallerstang Common on the Settle - Carlisle Line.

Sunset at Manchester Victoria

Manchester Victoria station in the 1950's. Stanier 'Jubilee' 4-6-0 leaves with an express whilst an LMS 2-6-4 tank arrives on a local service.

Sutton Oak MPD

Ivatt class 2 2-6-2 tank on a local push-pull train passes Sutton Oak Motive Power Depot in the 1950s.

The Waverley Express at Garsdale

A rebuilt Stanier 4-6-0 Royal Scot class locomotive on the down Waverley Express at Dandry Mire, Garsdale on the Settle - Carlisle Railway.