Some railway paintings and their artists 6. V2 No. 60984 at Dusk - Norman Elford

V2 No. 60894 at Dusk is a twilight shot of the East Coast Main Line. It shows a green liveried locomotive at the head of a mixed freight as it passes a passenger train of corridor stock travelling in the opposite direction. The scene is illuminated by the lights from the adjacent signalbox, flames from the open firebox reflecting off the smoke and steam from the engine, the carriage lamps from the train being passed, the locomotive’s own headlights and the distant street lights. It is a very cleverly constructed painting, in acrylic. Framed and glazed and mounted on card, it reached £400 in auction in November 2012 and £300 [plus the expected buyer’s premium and VAT] when sold again five years later.

Norman Elford was born in Portsmouth in 1931. He first developed an interest in railways when spending the war years with an aunt in Reading. Educated at Portsmouth Northern Grammar School, he then studied painting at Portsmouth College of Art, from 1947 to 1951, and gained his art teacher’s diploma at Bournemouth, in 1952. He taught art for 32 years, becoming a full-time artist in 1987.

Norman also painted marine and other transport subjects. He held several one-man exhibitions and his work was displayed by the Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries. He also published his work in the form of greeting cards and produced 30 works for railway calendars. Norman completed many private commissions, including landscapes, townscapes and contemporary maritime subjects. He designed decorative plates for both Spode and Royal Doulton.

Norman Elford was the president of Portsmouth and Hampshire Art Society for many years and a full member of the Guild of Railway Artists. Most of his work was completed in acrylic, but he also used oils and alkyds [synthetic polyester resins]. He retained an interest in the modern railway scene, recording its new motive power types and their liveries, and he was attracted by the human-interest angle found at busy stations.

Norman Elford died in 2007. His work has become increasingly collectable and examples have twice reached four-figure sums at railwayana auctions in the last few years.