A CHANCE find at a Perthshire car boot sale has aroused interest from railway enthusiasts across the country.
Antique dealer Joe Richards from Coupar Angus purchased a suitcase containing thousands of old 35mm black and white negatives at the Errol car boot sale.
They date from the 1940s and 50s and once Mr Richards began to sort them out he found the photographer, who came from Burntisland, had a particular interest in railways.
Around 500 of the negatives had a railway theme and included a number of pictures of accidents.
Many of the photographs relate to incidents and scenes in Fife but other examples included views at Dundee Central station in 1949.
Once he had sifted through them, Mr Richards began selling the negatives on eBay and found that many recorded working railway yards, an area not normally photographed at the time.
“I would say the man who took them was an enthusiastic amateur or semi-professional photographer,” said Mr Richards (62).
“There has been a lot of interest, with people contacting me to see if there are pictures from other areas, but they are mainly Fife.”
One example is of an accident on November 27 1949 when there was a train derailment on the line between Strathmiglo and Gateside.
A railway gang removed a section of rail and sleepers, but forgot to warn an oncoming train.
A crash occurred and the driver was injured and died.
Although Mr Richards was able to ascertain that the photographer was from Burntisland, he does not have any further details.
Do you know who took the fascinating snaps?
Contact Richard Burdge on 01738 622273 or email rburdge@thecourier.co.uk.