The hiss of steam, the blast of a railwayman's whistle, and the sight of a train sweeping through the countryside have captured the hearts of train lovers down the generations.
 
But the railways would never have come into existence and continued to thrive without the contribution of the people who work on them.
 
Oxford artist Andrew Manson sought to capture the achievements of staff at Didcot Railway Centre as well as the physical beauty of the railways when he set out on the project behind his most recent exhibition.
 
The partially finished exhibit can be seen at Oxford Town Hall until Friday as Mr. Manson continues to develop his works.
 
"Art & Industry: This England of Ours" was born from the 26-year-old's love of the railways and the 200th anniversary of Great Western Railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel's birth.
 
Mr. Manson said, "It all came from my love of locomotives. In my trade you have to do some commercial work and I am also artist in residence at West Oxford Community Centre. But once you have done that you can paint what you want to paint. I had the choice between the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare and the 200th anniversary of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and there was no contest. I really wanted to do the train stuff."
 
As part of the project Mr. Manson, who lives in Donnington, visited Didcot Railway Centre in February and has returned regularly to capture the site and its staff in his paintings.
 
He also interviewed some of the staff.
 
He said, "There was a terrific painter called Terence Cuneo who did a lot of the artwork for the golden age of railway posters. I wanted to do work like that because I love trains and how they operate and the engineering behind them. The focus on the people is a big thing for me too. You look at artists through history and you have to paint the people, they are the here and now. Hopefully what I am doing will still be important in the future and painting a person is a lot more fun."
 
Engineer Grahame Dryden and Didcot Railway Centre director Ann Middleton were among those captured by Mr. Manson.
 
He hopes to keep the project going into next year and aims to display at least some of the paintings at Didcot Railway Centre.
 
Mr. Manson, who has been a professional artist for five years, said, "I am particularly proud of the painting of the yard itself at Didcot with its iconic sheds. It works really well and gives the feel of the place. I would also like to expand to other cities, such as York because of their links to the railways."
 
"Art & Industry: This England of Ours" is free to view until 16:30 on Friday.
 
Luke Sproule.