David Lennox Booth, an in memoriam

2026/08/15

David Lennox Booth

Edgware 30.1.1927 - Moylegrove 27.7.1996.

This page was written in 1997 and published on my homepage. last updated in 2001. With the demise of xs4all homepages I copied it here, more or less in its original form. See this blogpost for more background.

This page is my personal in memoriam for David Lennox Booth. He was truly a gentle man and I am very glad to have met him.

Of his many sides there is one that I want to bring forward here. Ever since being a little boy he has always been very fond of railways: an enthusiasm we shared.

David was not a man of words, so I will keep this short. When going through his old files with his daughter Marion, at the time my partner, we found a Kodak wallet containing dozens of photographs young David must have taken when he was a boy (footnote ). Photographs of trains, trains, trains.

One of the most striking things of David Lennox Booth was his pleasure in making people happy by sharing what he had, often going to great lengths, yet without showing off. Therefore, I felt it is in his spirit to put a selection of these photos on the net. They may not be perfect, but they may mean something to someone interested in 1930’s steam railways.

So far for what I wrote one year ago. Given the many, warm reactions I have received these pictures have indeed struck a chord, and Marion has told me quite a few times that David would have been very pleased, if not a bit surprised. Therefore I have now added seven more photos, even though the quality of these varies. I hope you will enjoy them, as so many did with the first ten.

The photos

LNER locomotive No. 2510 “Quicksilver”.

LNER Class D16 No. 8796.

A King Class, probably at Slough.

LNER Class B17, ‘Hatfield House’

A LNER class N7 and class V1, hauling a passenger train.

A Great Western express in Reading.

A LNER class B12/3 and class N7.

LNER class K3 2-6-0, No. 125.

Approach to Paddington Station.

Ready to depart from Paddington.

Probably an LMS Jubilee Class 4-6-0 Loco; or maybe a GWR express.

Paddington, with a GWR “Hall” or “Star”.

A Churchward design 2-8-0 freight engine.

An LMS Beyer-Garratt.

A Gresley A4 pacific.

Again a LMS Beyer-Garratt.

Paddington. The loco is a “Hall” or “Grange”, or maybe a “Star”.

Dear reader, have these pictures touched you in any way? I would appreciate a reaction. Also, if you know more about the engines portrayed, or about the places these pictures were taken, please let me know.

On the wallet

The wallet that contained the photos. True size is approximately 10 x 7 cm. It’s made of a surprisingly smooth cardboard, and folds open to reveal two compartments.

Footnote

Assuming these pictures come from one film (and they came from one wallet) they must have been taken between February 1939, when LNER 0491, seen in photo 5, was delivered, and October 1943, when Quicksilver lost its Garter Blue livery. Since there are no obvious signs of the war - no blinds, for instance - my best guess is 1939-1940, when David was twelve, thirteen maybe. He was a real trainspotter then, his cousin told me recently, although the area covered (Reading, Slough; Cambridge?) makes it still a bit unlikely, since his parents probably didn’t take him that far from home. All comments are welcome!