Prototype Tim Mills' Photos

[oldravendale]

I felt it inappropriate to use the "Teaser Trailers" thread for these photos and they'll now appear on this one.

Here's the first of Tim's photos which has been through my mill. These will take quite a considerable amount of work judging by this one which had quite a few handling scratches, some drying marks and was extremely dusty. This shot was also very heavy in the shadows which I've lifted just a bit.

I've not tried to remove all the small dirt as this doesn't detract from the photo and gives a sense of age. However it shouldn't be immediately obvious on any enlargement up to about A4. Scratches, hairs and drying marks have, however, all been corrected.

If this is an example of what's to come we are all in for a treat!

All the photos on this thread will be copyright Tim Mills. He and I will be grateful if their origin is respected but I am honouring Tim's wishes in that they should be made available to the model building fraternity.

A1 Class 60123, H A Ivatt, carrying a 56B Ardsley shed plate at Kings Cross in 1957. It was at Adsley from September 1951, moving to Copley Hill Leeds in October 1957 and then back to Ardsley in May 1962 where it was withdrawn in the following October. (SLS). BR Database reports that it went to Doncaster Works for disposal, agreed by WHTS who advise it was photographed at Doncaster with front end damage on 29 September 1962, condemned and seen in the works yard on 14th October.



Brian

 

[oldravendale]

Firstly, thanks for all the "Likes". Although I'll be processing all these negs for Tim's and my own satisfaction it's good to know that so many others value them as well.

This one was a truly dismal neg and has taken hours to deal with. It was covered in damage, flat and underexposed and the emulsion had picked up density over parts of the front of the loco which is possibly a processing problem - it's always the important bits that get the worst damage!

I think this has made a really good photo and a I suspect that any effort to print it previously would have lead to it being discarded. I'm really pleased that Tim retained it, even if not in the best of storage conditions. Well worth the effort, though, and so reminiscent of the Liverpool Street pilots. In the back ground can be seen the famous J69 which was kept so immaculate but Tim has chosen this N7 at the end of its life as it went for scrap just a year after this photo was taken.

N7/5 0-6-2T 69657 at Liverpool Street. 1958. This had been a Stratford engine since new in 1925 as an N7/1. It became an N7/5 in 1951. It was withdrawn in June 1959 from Stratford (BR Database) where it was scrapped in October. (RO).



Brian

 

[adrian]

Very nice - thanks for posting.

All the photos on this thread will be copyright Tim Mills. He and I will be grateful if their origin is respected but I am honouring Tim's wishes in that they should be made available to the model building fraternity.

Thank you for that and Tim's generosity - one small suggestion then just to help with attribution perhaps a small watermark "© Tim Mills" on the photo just to emphasise and make clear the ownership.

 

[Dan Randall]

Very nice - thanks for posting.

Thank you for that and Tim's generosity - one small suggestion then just to help with attribution perhaps a small watermark "© Tim Mills" on the photo just to emphasise and make clear the ownership.

Good idea Adrian, but out of interest, how does one add watermarks to photos please?


Regards

Dan

 

[adrian]

Good idea Adrian, but out of interest, how does one add watermarks to photos please?

There are a multitude of ways - depending what computer system you are using and what software.

Scanning software like VueScan have a Copyright and Watermark fields so it can markup the photos as appropriate when you scan them in.

There's two areas to think about - first is a simple bit of text on the photo to indicate copyright, most software will allow you to write text on a photo, the more special stuff will allow you to make the text semi-transparent. The more specialised software will also markup the hidden meta data in a photo. Quite often photo's will have additional info about the camera, lens, exposure etc embedded in the image, you can use these fields to markup copyright as well.
One of the simple ones is simply a banner along the bottom of an image if you don't want to write text directly onto the image.
EAW008752 ENGLAND (1947). Brunswick Wharf Generating Station and the East India Dock Basin, Blackwall, 1947. This image has been produced from a print. | Britain From Above

 

[oldravendale]

Thank for the suggestion, Adrian.

I've tried but so far without success. I'll persevere though. I wonder whether my version of Photoshop is just too old as the on line advice is to use the layer tool in Photoshop. I tried that but couldn't get to a "text" field. More than likely my own failing.

B

 

[Eastsidepilot]

..........Well worth the effort, though, and so reminiscent of the Liverpool Street pilots. In the back ground can be seen the famous J69 which was kept so immaculate but Tim has chosen this N7 at the end of its life as it went for scrap just a year after this photo was taken..........


Brian

The station pilots often stood in the centre road at Liverpool St. probably to keep the loco spurs free for the intensive services there whilst awaiting their turn of duty. The West side pilot was 69614 from '56-60 so 69657 maybe standing in, which did occasionally happen when the dedicated pilot loco was thus otherwise engaged perhaps being serviced or on a special duty.

Col.

 

[oldravendale]

Thanks Col.

I have one of 69614 as well which I've already dealt with for a display but have never shown on here. I was holding it until Tim provides some more info re date. However in view of its potential assoctaion with the one I've just published I'll put it up soon. The loco is bulled up and looking fantastic. However I'm sure I remember a J69 in similar condition. But my forgettery leads me down some strange memory paths now.....

Brian

Edit - My notes tell me it was 68619

 

[Osgood]

When a suitable one arises, could you post a before and after to demonstrate the effect of your efforts?

 

[Eastsidepilot]

Thanks Col.

I have one of 69614 as well which I've already dealt with for a display but have never shown on here. I was holding it until Tim provides some more info re date. However in view of its potential assoctaion with the one I've just published I'll put it up soon. The loco is bulled up and looking fantastic. However I'm sure I remember a J69 in similar condition. But my forgettery leads me down some strange memory paths now.....

Brian

Edit - My notes tell me it was 68619

Would be interested in seeing the shot of 69614, Brian.

J69 68619 was the East side pilot, the subject of my avatar. You'll find my reasons for using it here February 2011 – Eastsidepilot

My intention is to build both the East & West side pilots in S7 eventually ! and perhaps the 08 diesel pilot of latter days.

Col.

 

[oldravendale]

I should have recognised the loco from your avatar and handle, Col! It all comes together now. Was a class 15 or 16 also used as a pilot for a period, similarly buffed up? I'm pretty sure that, in the photo of 69657 above, the loco in the background is more likely to be a J69 than an N7 but I guess we'll never know for certain.

Here's 69614 appropriately receiving the attention which was normal for these pilots. I have to spend some time with Tim going through all these photos which I've already post processed, and there are several hundred of them which will appear on here eventually, so he can give me the background including dates.

Details: N7 0-6-2T 69614 carrying a 30A Stratford shed plate at Liverpool Street Station at an unknown date. It became an N7/4 in February 1940 and despite appearances to the contrary the condensers were removed in May 1936. It was at Parkeston Quay in April 1949 and then to Stratford in August 1951. It was withdrawn in December 1960 (SLS) and scrapped at Stratford Works in March 1961. (RO).



Tony - thanks for your interest. I reckon one of the best to show the changes - I hesitate to say improvements, as that is a matter of individual judgement - is 69657 which is what has stirred up these comments. I very rarely if ever use the built in automatic quality improvement tools during scanning as too often I've found that they have an unrequired effect, for example dirt removal can result in the suppressing of fine detail, so this is the basic scan and what I started with.



You can see the density changes around the smokebox and front frames/cylinder cover and also you can see marks around the dome and boiler top which, on enlargement, look like scabs. The neg is, in fact covered in these but they are difficult to see in the deep shadows. The station platform in the left foreground has some sort of drying marks. I suspected reticulation initially but I think this is related to the similar marks on the dome and boiler. It's also possible that these are microbe attack but to confirm would need a more forensic approach than I am applying as I simply want to get the best from the negs that I can. The whole frame is affected to a greater or lesser extent.

The dirt and scratches are removed as a matter of course and contrast is adjusted. Most of these marks are removed by using the "clone" tool which allows an area of similar density to be copied and used to replace the damage. That's all there is to it but to deal with each issue as a separate entity takes time. It fills the hours sitting in front of the box! It's important to me that every photo receives this treatment and is a "warts and all" approach. Those marks on the ballast which could be interpreted as dust and removed are, in fact physical rubbish. Lights or holes in an overall roof remain in the final picture as they were there when the photo was taken. When requested I have occasionally removed similar debris or painted out the odd crane growing out of a chimney but always have the original image as the reference.

I know there are others on this forum far more skilled than I in the use of Photoshop who may like to comment further.

The next several photos will be those Tim took around Braintree and Witham. Tim asked me yesterday to give these priority as he has a friend who wishes to make use of them.

Brian

 

[mickoo]

With © Tim Mills.


Simply copy these and edit your original posts to show these new images.

Brian, just mail them to me, I'll add the copyright for you if you wish.

 

[oldravendale]

Thanks so much, Mick. That's a really kind offer. If I can't get mine to work I'll forward to you. The size, style and placement of that script is perfect.

Brian

 

[PhilH]

The problem with adding a banner at the bottom of the image is that it could easily be removed by trimming the image, not that anybody would of course (?), but they could.

If you're using Photoshop to edit the image and wish to mark the image itself, use the text tool and with the "Alt" depressed, type "0169" on the right of the keyboard, this gives the copyright symbol, then continue typing with the name or initials as you wish. This puts the text on a new layer which you can position where you like on the image, then under the heading "layer" selecting "merge visible" fixes it in position.

With the image closed, if you right click on the photo's icon you get a list, at the bottom of the list is "properties", click on that and you get a dialogue box, at the top select the heading "details" and there's an item "copyright" to which you can then add any details you wish, then click "apply". For good measure I also fill in the items "tags", "comments" and "authors", and you need to click "apply" for each one. This information stays with the image if its copied. It also seems to stay with the image even if its copied, re-edited, re-sized and re-titled, as I've tried it by downloading one of my own images and after all the amendments the information is still in place.

I appreciate your efforts Brian, it can take a lot of time and effort to edit old negatives and its annoying when some think its OK to download images and reuse them as they wish without crediting the original photographer.

 

[Peter Insole]

Sorry Brian, I'm thread bombing again!

Here is a scan taken from a rather damaged print, (the only copy that I have available) showing my drawing of the Class 15 Liverpool Street Pilot, D8234.

The first version of this picture was sketched on location back in 1969, (I think) but that original was unfortunately destroyed. I revisited the subject for this one from my memory of the view-point, visiting and drawing the East Side while it was still intact, and studying 34's sister; D8233 when she was still awaiting her rebuild. Having sat on the details for a time, a customer showed an interest, so the picture was completed. The girl was added to that final piece as a slightly tamed, but otherwise genuine biographical element that might perhaps be a touch inappropriate to relate in these pages...?!

As an anecdote, there was a story that I was told about the two aforementioned sister locos:

Apparently, when British Rail management decided to withdraw all of the class 15, the job was carried out in a somewhat arbitrary fashion. When the Stratford allocated 8234 was slated for disposal there was a bit of a stink at the ' Street as it was "their" special engine, and was in excellent condition to boot! Someone however managed to calm ruffled feathers when they discovered that 8233 was laid up awaiting repairs at Finsbury Park. A slick transfer on paper thus ensured that 34 carried on for a bit longer, while 33, not having moved at all, was to be dispatched instead! Thus is the origin of an apparent irregularity in the official "books?!

Ironically, and by a quirk of fate, or perhaps several, 8233 ended up being the sole survivor of the type!



Pete.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

.............. the loco in the background is more likely to be a J69 than an N7 but I guess we'll never know for certain..............


Brian

Brian,
I'd bet my last fiver that it is the East side pilot 68619 in the background, the buffers are too shiny to have been any of the other 69's !

....and yes as Pete has confirmed a cl15 was also a station pilot, so I'll have to add that one to the list to build

This is a really good book by Peter Swinger of colour photo's of the Eastern region.







Col.

 

[oldravendale]

Thank you for taking so much trouble, Phil. At the moment I can't find the "Text" field in my version of Photoshop, but as it'd version 2.0 which makes it stone age I wonder if it's a facility only available in later versions. This evening, with brain in neutral, I'll have another go! As for copies of my pictures, so far I've had only one escapee of which I'm aware and, having drawn attention to it, apologies followed.

Pete - another stunning image! The background to the Class 15 pilots is fascinating and previously unknown to me. I never saw the diesel pilots at Liverpool Street as, with the dispatch of the J69 and N7 so went my interest for quite a few years. Hence no blue diesels in my photo library.

That looks an interesting volume, Col. In the absence of exhibitions my book collection has enlarged hardly at all, so I may even indulge. Perhaps not this one, though On Great Eastern Lines by Swinger, Peter Hardback Book The Cheap Fast Free Post 9780711025028 | eBay

Thanks to all. Work continues on a photo of 70011 at Witham in 1954 - not one of Tim's best by a measure, but as I said earlier I'll be dealing with all his Witham and Braintree photos next. It's impossible to say what aspects which were unconsidered at the time the photo was taken will be of help to us model makers now.

Brian

 

[Peter]

That looks an interesting volume, Col. In the absence of exhibitions my book collection has enlarged hardly at all, so I may even indulge. Perhaps not this one, though On Great Eastern Lines by Swinger, Peter Hardback Book The Cheap Fast Free Post 9780711025028 | eBay

Hi Brian,

A little cheaper!!



Regards,

Peter

 

[oldravendale]

Thanks Peter.

Even better! On Great Eastern Lines by Peter Swinger - AbeBooks

Brian

 

[mickoo]

Sorry Brian, I'm thread bombing again!

Here is a scan taken from a rather damaged print, (the only copy that I have available) showing my drawing of the Class 15 Liverpool Street Pilot, D8234.

The first version of this picture was sketched on location back in 1969, (I think) but that original was unfortunately destroyed. I revisited the subject for this one from my memory of the view-point, visiting and drawing the East Side while it was still intact, and studying 34's sister; D8233 when she was still awaiting her rebuild. Having sat on the details for a time, a customer showed an interest, so the picture was completed. The girl was added to that final piece as a slightly tamed, but otherwise genuine biographical element that might perhaps be a touch inappropriate to relate in these pages...?!

As an anecdote, there was a story that I was told about the two aforementioned sister locos:

Apparently, when British Rail management decided to withdraw all of the class 15, the job was carried out in a somewhat arbitrary fashion. When the Stratford allocated 8234 was slated for disposal there was a bit of a stink at the ' Street as it was "their" special engine, and was in excellent condition to boot! Someone however managed to calm ruffled feathers when they discovered that 8233 was laid up awaiting repairs at Finsbury Park. A slick transfer on paper thus ensured that 34 carried on for a bit longer, while 33, not having moved at all, was to be dispatched instead! Thus is the origin of an apparent irregularity in the official "books?!

Ironically, and by a quirk of fate, or perhaps several, 8233 ended up being the sole survivor of the type!

View attachment 130983

Pete.

I'm going to go for Plat 11 Norwich departures, I thought it might be 9 but that was usually Cambridge arrivals and the background would be the Great Eastern Hotel.

Even in my day (early 80's) stock would be brought down from Stratford and a 47 would be sat there, once the train left that engine then moved up to the throat area and would back onto the next departing train, the ECS engine for that would then follow the same cycle. Sometimes it'd be a 31 or 37 and they'd either be on ECS duties full time or head over to the west side for a Cambridge express.