trains.

The photos were torn from Mrs. Rosa Hollis' scrapbook at her Railway Museum in Hamilton Parish.

It is thought the thief was a cruise ship visitor who had been given a guided tour of the museum.

"He must be a collector of train memorabilia, and pulled out the photographs while I was distracted,'' said Mrs. Hollis.

She said up to 24 photos were taken from four pages of the book.

Some, dating back to the 1930s, were of the old Astor trains in Ferry Reach, St. George's. Others were of the trains in the 1950s.

"There were some taken about 12 years ago to show how the trains had become derelict.'' Mrs. Hollis said the thief also tore out pages from another train book. "In future the scrapbook will be locked up. It seems you can't trust people,'' she added.

RIPPED OUT -- Railway Museum owner Mrs. Rosa Hollis shows the pages of her scrapbook which once boasted the Astor train photographs.