A little while ago there was a big sale of railway posters at Morphet's auction rooms. They were gorgeous and very expensive images. Most of them advertised the charms of this or that resort and did so with considerable skill. But one image struck me forcibly as it relates to an aspect of railways with which my family had some connection.
The poster design at right, by Stanhope Forbes shows platelayers adjusting the track and this was the work done by my grandfather James Shell .The poster was also a surprise to me because it didn't seem to fit with what I knew of Stanhope Forbes an artist who was painting sentimental pictures in Brittany before Gauguin ever set foot there.
The photograph above shows a group of platelayers working near Linton in Northumberland and it was probably taken in the 1940s. My grandfather is standing second from right.
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