The renowned railway and wildlife artist, David Shepherd,
died on the 17th September 2017, at the age of 86. Also referred to affectionately
as “the man who paints elephants,” he was a founder member of the Guild of
Railway Artists and was one of only five elected fellows of that organisation.
David was well-known for his efforts in both wild-life
conservation and railway preservation. He rescued two steam locomotives directly
from British Railways, Standard Class 4 4-6-0 No. 75029, which became The Green
Knight, and Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 No. 92203, which he named Black Prince.
David was also instrumental in the restoration of the East Somerset Railway as
a heritage line.
We met David Shepherd briefly at Ramsbottom station on the
East Lancashire Railway, in 1993. He hopped down off the footplate of his 9F to
autograph our travel tickets, being the only paper [or card] that we had easily
to hand. He was very approachable and friendly, but I almost certainly lacked
the presence of mind to tell him that I had seen No. 92203 hauling the last
steam-hauled John Summers iron ore train from Bidston dock to Shotton steel
works, from our sixth form library window in Leasowe, on a cold, clear November
day in 1967.
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