AUTHOR and train enthusiast Mark Jamieson has compiled a collection of photographs celebrating Wiltshire’s railways over 30 years, from the days of British Rail to the privatised railway of today.

Wiltshire Traction is published by Amberley Books and is stuffed full of photographs of passenger and freight trains operating within the county. As the former home of the Great Western Railway works, Swindon figures prominently in the collection.

“It's always been known as ‘the home of the Great Western Railway’ and is still regarded as an important railway centre today. The town of Swindon really owes itself to the GWR works that were built here, transforming a small town into the bustling place it has become today,” he said.

”I have tried where possible to focus on not only the workshops at Swindon, but the station and its importance, recognising the fact that this once great railway town still has in important role to play in today’s railway.”

Mark said the ‘traction’ of the title, referred to a locomotive, or something that could be used to power or move a train, such as a diesel or electric unit.

He lives in Dorset and comes from a family with a history of working in the industry.

“I live in Poole, and was born and bred here,” he said. “Although neither of my parents worked on the railway, my two uncles, my granddad and great granddad (all on my mum's side) all worked on the railway, either in the Poole area, or surrounding areas.

“My two uncles in particular inspired me at a young age to want to work on the railway, even though I had no interest at the time in the railway from an enthusiast perspective. I was more interested in following in the family footsteps so to speak. I joined British Rail in 1984, almost straight from school, and for the last 16 years have been a Mobile Operations Manager for Network Rail.”

Perhaps Mark’s new book will inspire a love of railways into young enthusiasts as his earliest recollection his own interest was the time his parents bought him an Ian Allan ABC Locoshed book of locomotives from Woolworths.

“I thought it was just a general book on trains but turned out it was full of engine numbers. All locomotives, coaches, wagons etc have an individual ID number, in the same way a vehicle has a unique registration,” he said.

“I didn't have a clue about this book and what it meant, but a couple of lads at school knew all about it. As my school was right alongside the railway at Poole numbers were soon underlined once I was pointed in the right direction by my school mates. However, this fascination with trainspotting was short-lived and developed into more of an interest in photography, I think in no small part by the fact my dad was quite keen on photography at the time.”

Wiltshire Traction is the second book Mark has produced for Amberley Publishing, the previous book being Dorset Traction.

“Whilst most of the material in Wiltshire Traction is my own, I have had the support of several fellow photographers that I have come to know over recent years, and have used some of their material, in particular for filling in gaps,” he said. “As an example, one contributor - Steve King - who lives in Swindon, has helped me with photographs from that area which I lack, or Steve McMullin from Westbury who has helped with some great archive material from that area.

“Whilst limited by space I have tried to make the books as interesting and varied as possible for those with an interest in this county, and its railway history over recent years.”

He said it was difficult narrowing down the material, but with around twelve stations in Wiltshire, he aimed to use one image per station, then locations such as junctions.

“I looked at things like locomotives, trying to cover as many different classes as possible that have visited the country over the last 30 years or so, and different types of trains. So for example, Great Western Railway - one of the main passenger train operator's for the county - how their trains have evolved from, say, the 1980s through to the new trains that are currently being rolled out into service at the moment, and the Inter-City 125 High Speed Train that has served the Paddington to Swindon / Bristol and beyond routes incredibly well since the 1970's.

“I've had some really positive feedback for Wiltshire Traction, which is fantastic and makes it all the more worthwhile.”

Wiltshire Traction costs £14.99 and is available from amberley-books.com.