By Geoff Courtney
Barry Freeman, one of the country’s top railway artists who was noted for his unwavering attention to detail, has died at the age of 80, poignantly just days before one of his paintings sold for £5200 at a top railwayana auction.
Barry, who was born in Northampton, educated at the town’s grammar school, and was living in the town on his death, was a childhood trainspotter and, due to his roots, a committed LMS enthusiast.
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After completing his education he served in the Royal Navy for 10 years, following which he had several years in the electronics and aviation industries before becoming an art teacher in 1971. Eighteen years later he took early retirement and became a professional artist, painting mainly railway, but also aviation, subjects.
Tony Digby, who had been a friend for 10 years, said: “I first got to know him when I sold him a Volvo estate car, and we discovered we had many things in common, including a love of railways. He told me his first recollection of trains was going on a family holiday to north Wales in 1946, when he would have been eight or nine.
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