Ben Brooksbank

[RJEB]

Railway author, photographer, and member of the World War Two Railway Study Group Ben Brooksbank sadly passed away 20 February.

 

His photographs spanned the later war years through BR steam, his books included London Main Line War Damage, The East Coast Main Line 1939 - 1959 {co-authored with Peter Tuffrey, Train Watchers: No1; and The Route of the Flying Scotsman: Triumph and Beyond, Pt 2.

 

As the second editor of the World War Two Railway Study Group Bulletin,he maintained and developed the standard set, enabling the Bulletin to develope into the wide interest publication it is today.

 

His role in writing the script for the British railway section of DD Video's 'Steam at War' helped set the scene for the WW2RSG becoming a point of reference for war-time railway information.

 

His assistance in procuring the loan of W. Dendy's war time photographs laid the foundation for the WW2RSG's photo archive and photo sales.

 

Although in latter years he was of emertitus status, he will be missed by those who knew him.

 

His funeral will be held at North East Surrey Crematorium on 20th March at 4pm.

[Andy Y]

Sad news; Ben's images have been very useful to me over the years, especially when combined with geograph when researching railway locations. I am very thankful to him for that time and effort.

[jonny777]

Very sad to hear that news. 

 

I have a couple of his books, and they are full of great photos and informative captions. He had thousands of photos uploaded to Geograph (at my last search - just under 10,000) and as Andy Y has said, they covered all manner of detail which is vital for modelling purposes. Fortunately, he had the foresight to include more station and background features that many others did not, and was still submitting photos to online sites until a few years ago. 

 

Railway photographers such as he do not come along very often, and when they pass on they leave a great sense of loss to all those who benefitted from their activities.

 

RIP.

Edited March 20, 2018 by jonny777

[Karhedron]

What a shame. He was generous enough to allow a great many of his photos to be uploaded to wiki-media for people to enjoy.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

As Andy mentions above, many of his photos will be found on the Geograph website http://www.geograph.org.uk

[robertcwp]

I attended Ben's funeral today. He had a good send-off including reference to his railway interests and authorship.

[BMacdermott]

Hello everyone

 

Although I never actually met him, Ben and I spoke many times by letter and phone over the years as fellow members of the Steam Railway Research Society. He personified the term 'dedicated researcher'.

 

If you can get hold of his books (titles below), I'm sure you will agree with me.

 

(Triumph & Beyond. The ECML 1939-1959. Challenger Publications, 1997. The Route of the Flying Scotsman. Part 2 of Triumph & Beyond. Arcturus Press 2002.)

 

Brian

[Bedders]

Sad news that passed me by at the time.  His generous sharing of his photographs via geograph is a legacy that will keep his memory alive for years to come.  Has his collection been bequeathed to anyone?

[robertcwp]

Sad news that passed me by at the time.  His generous sharing of his photographs via geograph is a legacy that will keep his memory alive for years to come.  Has his collection been bequeathed to anyone?

I believe that it has gone to auction, or will do so.