Steam in England: The Classic Colour Photography of R C Riley

R. C. ('Dick') Riley (1921-2006) was one of the country's foremost railway photographers; starting with mono just prior to World War 2, he moved over to color in the early 1950s, when such film was both expensive and slow. Working in the banking industry - like a number of other notable photographers - gave him the opportunity to travel widely and, aided by his trackside pass and contacts within the railway industry, he was able to access locations and views that many other photographers were excluded from. From his early work through to the end of main line steam in 1968 he took countless thousands of transparencies; over the years a number have been published but there remain a significant number that have yet to see the light of day. This large landscape format book showcases some 200 color images taken by Dick Riley between the early 1950s and 1968. Whilst the bias will be towards the Southern and Western regions, the book will also include a significant number of illustrations on both the Eastern and London Midland regions. Dick Riley was also a prolific photographer of industrial railways, and the book will include a brief selection featuring these sites, as well as recording aspects such as signs and minutiae, which were largely ignored by other photographers. The book will also include vignettes of these photographs. The text will be compiled by his close friend and executor Rodney Lissenden, who will have access to Dick Riley's personal diaries for anecdotal tales relating to the images concerned. The book will have a foreword and preface by Richard Hardy - a well-known railway man who know the author for more than 50 years - and the newscaster Nick Owen, again a personal friend, both of whom gave addresses at Dick Riley's funeral in 2006.