READER John Sanderson is a former HGV driver turned railway maintenance worker with a lifelong love of trains.

But he's also a gifted amateur photographer, as the photographs on these pages more than demonstrate.

John, 63, a member of the Stamford Bridge Photography Group (even though he lives in York) took these photographs while 'out and about' over the past year or so.

Some were taken during the 'Great Gathering' at the National Railway Museum last year (an event which this week won the White Rose 'event of the year' tourism award): others at the museum's light show or on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

Still more are scenic shots of trains sweeping through wide landscapes, including one beautiful image of a train on the East Coast Main Line in early evening, with the sky turning to a glowing red above.

John takes a range of photographs, not only trains – everything from landscapes to still life. "If it's a worthy subject, I will snap it," he says. "I have a saying in photography: nature provides the shot – you just have to go and find it."

But it is trains that are his real passion. He has loved them since he was a child growing up in Teesside, when he used to build and play with model trains.

He loves the size and awesome power and precision of the great machines, he admit, especially steam trains.

That love comes over loud and clear in his photographs on these pages today.

John's work is on display at his sister Kristine Livingstone's St George's Guest House in St George's Place, York, and at Hartleys, the sandwich bar on Lendal Bridge.

York Press:
The Nigel Gresley at the Great Gathering, NRM, 2013. Photo: John Sanderson

York Press: The Nigel Gresley arriving at Pickering during the War Weekend, 2014. Photo: John Sanderson