I recently had the opportunity to drive and fire a steam locomotive – very exciting! While I was there though, I couldn’t help but carry the camera, and I was struck by the enormous texture and apparent temperature that I saw when I looked between the coaches at the linkage that held them together. Something about the soft, silver surface around the screw thread just feels so cold to the touch.

The gritty, worn metal, full of pits from age and wear, were crying out for a black and white treatment, and contrast really interestingly with the soft tubing of the vacuum hose.

A 50 mm prime thrown open to a fast aperture puts the rest of the image into a soft focus, drawing attention to the detail around the links and chain. This is the kind of image you see when you visit a Gentleman’s barber, along with the famous image of sky-scraper buildings eating their lunch (why does every barber have one of those?)

The linkages between coaches on these vintage steam-era rollers are the epitome of hard-wearing, working parts.