About this artwork

A Cold Express 92220 Evening Star & the Pines Express from Manchester to Bournemouth in the 1960s. This is the image that popped into my head reading about the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway that ran from Bath to Bournemouth before its closure.
Snow was often sudden when it hit the Mendip hills South of Bath. The British Railways, 9F’s were often used to operate these trains because of their power. However, in the winter they were not equipped to heat the passenger coaches.
This is where my title came from. ‘A Cold Express’ 92220 Evening Star and the Pines Express
92220 Evening Star is my Favourite Locomotive, so I chose her for the painting. She operated on that line, on that service. Just not in the snow. It was the last locomotive to come out of Swindon's works before they stopped making locomotives there.
My painting depicts a sudden cold winter blast hitting the Mendips without warning. Evening Star has already left with the ‘Pines Express’ and all other locomotives being allocated to other duties. A cold blast from the North has laid an even blanket of snow across the hills. the air has turned cold. Passengers have the rest of the journey to travel, in unheated rolling stock.
The Express often wasn’t an express on the Somerset and Dorset anyway. it was a slow line because of the gradients. Some of the line was single track too. On other parts of the line, they also coupled up a second Pilot locomotive to assist the main engine. This meant an even longer journey with the extra time waiting around while they couple & uncouple each time. All this combined has left it as an uncomfortable journey for the passengers.

So much for sunny Bournemouth . I want a nice hot cup of tea . After all we’re British.

I am hoping this image will bring back lots of memories for the older generations and shed some light on the past for the younger ones .