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Post by Nick RS on Jul 9, 2015 21:52:01 GMT
Picked up a copy of The Times today. This may not mean anything outside the UK but I was saddened to read the passing of Ian Allan in the obituary section. Anyone who had one of the little loco spotters books or is interested in railways will know his name. Also in the same section was Ernest Tomlinson, composer of light music often heard on the BBC years ago. His Chipping Lane sums up what I imagine Britain was like in the 1950s, perhaps viewed through rose tinted specs.
They both lived into their 90s, good long lives.
Nick
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 9, 2015 23:33:54 GMT
Very sad. I knew the name Ian Allan and it suddenly struck me that he must have been a very old boy indeed. Ernest Tomlinson I confess I didn't know.
Terry Davey has recently died as well. He was responsible for the fabulous cut-away drawings which adorn the covers of so many Haynes manuals and more recently were to be seen in Practical Classics magazine.
I expect that he'll live on through his drawings.
Chris.
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Post by dave1800 on Jul 10, 2015 6:28:36 GMT
I was amazed to hear that Ian Allan had only just died. I remember back in the fifties we nearly all had a copy of his train spotting book. If I recall it was 2s 6d for the Western Region version where I lived and I think 10s 6d for the hard back book that covered all the regions. I wonder if there is a nerdish link between being a train spotter and owning a Crab.  Back in the fifties we didn't have I-PADS of course and we met up in the school holidays near the railway a bit like the youngsters today going to Malls. It was more to do with socialising although I must admit to having a soft spot for King Class locomotives. David |
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Post by indianajones on Jul 10, 2015 10:00:57 GMT
Can't say I know of Ian Allan, but I certainly know the name of Terry Davey, having many of his drawings on the cover of my Haynes manuals.
-Andrew
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Post by Nick RS on Jul 10, 2015 12:07:41 GMT
The obituary said that the spotters books used to sell a million copies a year which is just amazing. Ian Allan had to have a leg amputated following an accident as a teenager which meant he couldn't join active service in the Second World War. He got a Clerks job with the Southern Railway and set up the publishing operation after getting constant requests for locomotive inventories from trainspotters. The first one was published in 1942 when he was just 20 years old. Today Ian Allan publishing has a £30m turnover.
Andrew,
I think the Terry Davey pictures are great. I'm no good a drawing but even it I were I wouldn't know where to start in producing something like those.
Nick
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Back in the fifties we didn't have I-PADS of course and we met up in the school holidays near the railway a bit like the youngsters today going to Malls. It was more to do with socialising although I must admit to having a soft spot for King Class locomotives. 