Some railway paintings and their artists. 7. Twilight Steam – Peter Annable

Twilight Steam shows an ex-LNER O4 Class 2-8-0 trundling through the Nottingham suburbs in the 1960s. It is seen here on the section of the ex-Great Central Railway north of Victoria station and the city centre. The down iron ore train [or one of returning coal empties] has just passed through New Basford on its journey north. New Basford station was built as an island platform on an embankment, in the typical GCR style. It was accessed from a staircase down to Haydn Road. The station master’s house is still in use as a private residence.

It is a very atmospheric shot, in half light. The locomotive is cleverly framed by its own steam, giving sharp clarity to its recognisable outline. This contrasts with the somewhat eerie and smoky backdrop that fills the space as far as the ridge, at the foot of which is Sherwood Rise tunnel’s north portal. It is a very evocative interpretation. This part of the GCR is no more, of course, but the former route that the railway took, emerging briefly from Mansfield Road tunnel at Carrington, then disappearing again, before bursting out into the open beyond Sherwood Rise, will be well-remembered by many.

Peter Annable was brought up in Brinsley in Nottinghamshire. His artistic prowess as a youngster lead him to a career as a graphic designer in industry, eventually taking him away from his home area to design bank notes, amongst many other things. Since returning to the county, he has worked as a freelance artist and illustrator and also accepts private commissions. Peter now resides at Edwinstowe, making him [to my knowledge] the nearest railway artist of repute to where we live.

When I met him for the first time recently, I mentioned that I had first noticed his work at an exhibition in Mansfield library, which he told me must have been as long ago as the late 1980s. At that time, I had made a mental note of the name and decided that I would eventually like to have one of his distinctive takes on the last days of steam, so full of the atmosphere of the time. I’m pleased to say, that I finally managed to acquire this fine example. Peter works in both oils and watercolours. Though he does not like “having to count rivets” in his paintings, he certainly has a range of styles at his disposal, as shown by the substantial and detailed oil painting of an A4 on the Tees-Tyne Pullman, which sold well at Talisman Railwayana Auction’s November 2017 sale, and which is completed in what might be described as a more photorealistic format. Peter is a full member of the Guild of Railway Artists.