A Marriage Of Convenience
The talk will include plenty of historical pictures, especially of the peopled involved.
About John Hunt
Born in Norfolk in 1945, John was brought up in Leamington Spa and educated at Warwick School before furthering his education at Newcastle University. It was here where he settled in the North East and his passion for steam and railways began to thrive.
John joined the fledgling NELPG in October 1966 while at the time being a member of the Newcastle University Railway Society, which raised considerable and crucial funds for the acquisition and overhaul of the J27 and Q6.
After his first visit to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway on 2nd February 1969, John became a volunteer almost immediately. This coincided with the arrival of the NYMR’s first steam locomotive, Mirvale. The following year John joined the Locomotive Department first as a cleaner, then fireman and eventually as driver until retirement in 2022, after 52 years footplate service.
After taking early retirement in 1996, John then began work for West Coast Railways, first as a fireman, then additionally as a guard and eventually as driver, covering most of the UK rail network. After covering over 156,000 miles, John retired from the footplate in 2022 and assisted as a Train Manager for WCR until 2025.
John’s voluntary work does not stop on the footplate. He was elected as NELPG Chairman in 1998, the 4th person to hold this role and which he still proudly serves to this day – alongside being responsible for the ever informative NELPG News, beginning with issue 73 and still at it after 286 issues! From 1996 to 2023, John was responsible for editing the NYMR’s Moors Line (a magazine to keep the wide array of members updated with the railway’s happenings).
With a passion for photographing steam locomotives in action (both in the UK and around the world), John has also had several books published including several books on the NYMR, such as its definitive Golden Jubilee publication in 2023.
Many of the British pictures appeared in the seminal and highly acclaimed Never Again – The Complete Works, published in 2018. The book was completely sold out – before it was even printed!