Tribute to Eastleigh

£25.00

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Description

A hardback book devoted to photographs from the Norman Cox collection.
This 128-page book is full of rare black & white photographs which Norman collected whilst working for the railway as a steam driver.

Background
The town of Eastleigh grew from the nearby small parishes of Barton and Eastley in the late 1870s. It was the decision by the London & South Western Railway to build their new carriage and locomotive works in this area of Hampshire, which by then had become known as Eastleigh, and eventually saw growth in the population to around 25,000. Three main streets were to see development around them – High Street, Market Street and Southampton Road – and soon the whole area had other roads springing off these for residential housing. Eastleigh was host to a large area of workshops and railway infrastructure alongside the London to Southampton main line. Previously, the main LSWR works was at Nine Elms in south London.

This book is formed from a collection of photographs by the well-known Eastleigh railwayman and engine driver Norman Cox. He collected a vast array of photographs of many subjects to do with transport, but it is his collection of Eastleigh railway photographs that we see in this first volume covering numerous locomotive classes with views around the station, locomotive works and running shed.
The book is split into various chapters to include views from the locomotive works dating back to its beginnings and up to the end of steam traction in the south in 1967. Also included is a large collection of fascinating scenes at the locomotive depot in Campbell Road covering locomotives in LSWR, SR and BR times. Norman would have worked from there whilst a driver.
Norman Cox was from a family long associated with the railway. His grandfather, Walter Cox, worked in the carriage section at Nine Elms Works and was transferred to Eastleigh when the Works was relocated. His father too, Hugh Cox, was a railwayman. Norman and his two brothers Leslie and Kenneth were all drivers on the main line with the Southern. Norman had a great passion for the railway he worked for and became a collector of all things to do with steam and other hobbies he enjoyed. Colleagues who worked with him at Eastleigh running shed have fond memories of him. We are pleased to publish this first volume in a series devoted to his collection which stretch way back to the late 19th century.