Geoffrey Wheeler (1929-1995) was born in Penn, Buckinghamshire and joined the Great Western Railway in 1945. Later he saw service in the Royal Navy, serving in a number of ships including HMS Amethyst, about which he edited and illustrated his first book.

After working for two years in a technical publications studio, as an illustrator, he went freelance in 1961. He perfected superb airbrush techniques, which are displayed in his range of work available from Wheeler Prints.

The Wheeler family are proud to present this unique range of coloured portraits of Traction Engines and Railway Locomotives, complemented by the black and white cut-away drawings, which were pioneered and made famous by Geoffrey in the “Eagle”, throughout the 1960’s.techniques, which are displayed in his range of work available from Wheeler Prints.

Some of the locomotive illustrations took up to six months to complete, as airbrushing requires a method of masking hand cut from masking film which takes longer than the
spraying itself. The level of detail was also so exact as to be perfect colour engineering drawings, with every nut and bolt in the right place. For a number of years he drew the
cut away features for the “Eagle” boys’ paper, which was and still is much renowned, and has now become extremely collectable.