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Alan
Postlethwaite has been an enthusiast of
real and model railways since 1942 (aged
3). One of his earliest memories is
of a journey as an evacuee from Paddington
to Cheltenham St. James in a train packed
with servicemen standing in corridors.
He acquired
his first train set aged four, a second-hand
Hornby clockwork O gauge which included
a four wheel Pullman car called “Marjory”.
He later progressed to Hornby Dublo,
followed by kit built OO gauge and then
fine scale EM gauge.
His most
ambitious layout was built during the 1980s
in American N gauge. His current project
is a large OO table top layout using OO
Setrack, suitable for his grandchildren
to use, assemble and enjoy.
Alans interest in railway
history and photography started when he
left school to become an engineering apprentice.
Living south of the Thames and with
limited spare time and money, most of his
exploration and research was of BR Southern
region and its predecessors. He nevertheless
found the other railways of Britain and
Europe equally interesting and took every
opportunity to explore them.
These outings were the source of many
of the pictures used in his books. Alan
also walked or rode most of the Southern
region in search of steam. He only
stopped intensive railway photography when
BR steam came to an end and simultaneously,
he got married
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