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The History of Railway Photography

The masters railway photographers - M. W. Earley  

Earley's legacy to railway photography was not only the collection he left behind, but the work he did in raising the standard of photographs. Indeed he first began taking railway photographs due to his dissatisfaction with the commercial images available. His high quality work was most notable for capturing locomotives at high speed. In 1922 Earley founded the Railway Photographic Society in an attempt to improve standards. Many of the master photographers were members, and such was their loyalty to Earley that when he retired from the society aged 76, they retired with him. Earley's work concentrated on GWR locomotives but he also recorded the diesels of the later British Rail Western Region and included photographs of workshops, railway infrastructure and even some shots of the SNCF in France.

LMS Princess Margaret Rose at Dillicar water troughs by Maurice Earley, 1936

LMS Princess Margaret Rose at Dillicar water troughs by Maurice Earley, 1936
ref no. Earley 5403 © National Railway Museum/Science & Society Picture Library

Locomotives using the Ranelagh Bridge turntable near Paddington Station, London. Another photographer (bottom right) is also on hand to capture the scene by Maurice Earley

Locomotives using the Ranelagh Bridge turntable near Paddington Station, London. Another photographer (bottom right) is also on hand to capture the scene by Maurice Earley
ref no. Earley26/53 © National Railway Museum/Science & Society Picture Library