Chichester
Meeting Reports
Wednesday 25th January 2012
Going Digital
Colin Boocock
For the January meeting, Colin Boocock delivered his laboratory presentation, ‘Going Digital’. The evening divided into two distinct sessions. The first part concentrated upon equipment, covering everything from cameras to the domestic processing of photographic images. Colin took the audience back to his earliest days of photography, dating from the late 1940s. Progressively, a path was taken through to the present day, digital photography overlapping with emulsion film a decade ago but superseding completely from 2004. The audience was introduced to images of Colin’s home equipment, tracing events from early black and white processing, enlarging and printing right up to present day practices, employing electronic technology. Nothing was left to the imagination, Colin sharing with his audience every stage in the photographic process.
The second session dwelt upon the miracles that can now be performed on images that, for a variety of reasons, might be considered unsatisfactory. A small selection of pictures provided the basis for Colin’s demonstration. Employing processes available through computer programming, a spread of techniques was demonstrated before our eyes, in which scanned transparencies, featuring a variety of faults, were transformed into astonishingly good pictures. The audience appeared spellbound by Colin’s laboratory demonstration – a uniquely enthralling evening
Wednesday 21st December 2011
Brief AGM followed by presentations by local members
Ted Goodman
December’s short A.G.M. preceded a presentation by four regular attendees. The A.G.M. outlined encouraging statistics for the past season, covering nine meetings, 52 different names and an average attendance of 28.4; the figure for the current season stands at 33. The Treasurer, Geoff Adams, presented the accounts to 31 October. Geoff, Rosie Jacob and Andy Perry do, of course, give invaluable service to the branch.
The four contributors to the following presentation brought variety and interest to the evening, their material well received by an appreciative audience. Denis Nye opened with a presentation based on his all-line Rail Rover tour, taking us from Penzance to John o' Groats, with many features en route. David Keeler followed with a delightful collection of early 1970s pictures of Portuguese steam, much of which is now history. After the interval, John Jones provided a graphic, indeed moving, account of the mid-1960s, the mise en scène highlighting the dereliction that presaged change. A sequence of pictures, taken two decades ago in North Korea by John Barrowdale, concluded events. Conditions imposed had made life very difficult for photographers but John managed to ‘escape’ with a representative selection, offering us an insight into an altogether different world.
Wednesday 23rd November 2011
Mind the Gap – history of the Forth and Tay Bridges
Ted Goodman
Ted Goodman visited Chichester in November with an historical account of the Forth and Tay rail bridges, featuring a sizeable portfolio of 19th century archive photographs. Ted’s commentary provided a wealth of facts and anecdotal material, his engaging style a particular pleasure. Following a topographical introduction, outlining transportation problems between Edinburgh and Dundee, the building of the Forth bridge was described. [Thomas Bouch’s initial attempt had been hastily abandoned, following the 1879 collapse of his 1878 Tay design.] The Forth bridge, built by Tancred-Arrol, was designed by John Fowler and Benjamin Baker. Completed in 1890, building had started in 1883. The massive cylindrical members that characterize the design are 12 feet in diameter, using iron 1.25” thick. 6,500,000 rivets were used in construction, whereas 2,000,000 had been used in the 1878 Tay bridge. The second Tay bridge, a double track design by William Barlow, was constructed by William Arrol between 1883 and 1887. It survives today, incorporating 118 girder sections salvaged from the first bridge of 1878. The evening began with delightful photographs of mid-19th century Forth and Tay ferries; it ended with scenes from recent years, the stumps of the 1878 Tay bridge a poignant reminder of the disaster.
Wednesday 26th October 2011
The British Transport Police
Graham Cottington
October brought Graham Cottington from Ashford (Kent) to describe the work of the British Transport Police. Graham joined the B.T.P. from the British Army in 1995. His south-east area extends from east Kent to The Hampshire/Dorset border. The structure of the force was outlined in detail, with emphasis upon its long history and independence of county forces. With fewer than 500 officers serving more than 500 stations, plus track and railway yards, the force may appear stretched, yet manages to provide an extremely effective service to the railway system and public alike. Officers have powers similar to those of county officers and can make arrests away from railway property. For incidents on the railway, the first officer on the scene takes and retains control, irrespective of rank. Terrorism has, in recent years, adjusted the focus of the force, the general public informed and alerted to security as never before. Meanwhile, common assault, vandalism, graffiti and fraudulent travel provide the main areas of investigation, on railway property and, of course, on trains. Graham’s excellent, often surprisingly amusing, presentation concluded with some memorably alarming, spine-chilling, c.c.t.v. scenes of trespass, incidents that had resulted in amputation by surfing and death by electrocution.
Wednesday 28th September 2011
High Speed Trains
Gordon Pettitt, former General Manager, B.R.(S.R.)
The 2011-2012 season of meetings opened with the welcome return of Gordon Pettitt, his subject High Speed Rail technology. The meeting comprised four sections, a presentation followed by a discussion, both before and after the interval. The first part traced the history of High Speed Trains, from the 1964 opening of the Japanese Shinkansen project through to the present day, with the very latest developments in Spain and China. Gordon, with the aid of charts, demonstrated the evolution of the technology and its impact on travel. Continuing refinements in Japan, thanks to a vast, unbroken programme of research, were all carefully explained. Following earlier experiments in Italy, using existing infrastructure, the wisdom in exploiting the technology in Europe - with dedicated new routes in France, Germany and, most recently, Spain - could not be questioned, given the resulting shift from air to rail travel. After the interval, Gordon presented the case for HS2, bringing simplicity and clarity to a potentially controversial proposition. He was persuasive, confronting all issues head on, knowledgeable and confident in his conviction. Both before and after the interval, questions, answers and discussion provided a large audience with ample food for thought, Gordon’s presentation having been masterful.
Wednesday 25th May 2011
Steve Tyler, General Manager (Central), First Great Western
For the May meeting, Steve Tyler, First Great Western Central Area Manager, came from Bristol to deliver a presentation on company operation. Steve’s extempore style impressed, his knowledge and understanding of the job, presented with enthusiasm and authority, leaving the audience in no doubt that his is a sound appointment. The accompanying digital projection was useful but Steve far outshone his equipment’s contribution. He outlined his career to date, involving other rail operators, before focusing upon recent years with FGW, following the company’s period of difficulty. Justifiably, public approval has since risen dramatically but conditions imposed by the DfT have resulted in First Group’s decision to decline the three-year franchise extension. Circumstances prevailing on the Severn Beach branch, where the company’s ‘partnership’ with passengers is recognized as an example of sound management, exemplify the frustration TOCs experience in dealing with the DfT. In the Bristol area there is ‘suppressed demand’, with FGW denied the opportunity to respond fully to public need. Re-doubling on the Cotswold and Kemble lines may soon enhance flexibility but if future electrification is to exclude branches in the London and Bristol areas, this will be foolhardy. This brief account scarcely does justice to a magnificent evening.
Wednesday 27th April 2011
A 1980s Somerset Insider
Michael Mensing
Michael Mensing, who attends our Chichester meetings, was the invited speaker for April, his subject ‘A 1980s Somerset Insider’. In a very well-prepared presentation, Michael took his audience on an anticlockwise conducted tour around the county, including that part of Wiltshire necessary to complete the circuit. Starting and finishing at Castle Cary, lines and freight branches were illustrated, with Westbury, Bristol and Taunton defining the route. Development of the aggregate business on the erstwhile branches from Frome and Witham was covered and explained in the very greatest detail, recalling the evolution of motive power, from a wide variety of BR Classes to the introduction of Class 59 in the 1980s. A feast of liveries indicated the breadth of variety available at the time, yet fading memories might have suggested otherwise. With passenger traffic, we were similarly reminded of the kaleidoscope of designs, from BR blue and grey to the newer liveries, then emerging under sectorisation. HST units in original guise were of particular note, while the brief period when Classes 155 and 156 served Regional Railways, was well documented. Michael’s pictures were uniformly and unsurprisingly of outstanding quality, his compositional skill an object lesson in the art of railway photography.
Wednesday 23rd March 2011
The Office of the Rail Regulator
David Brace
In March, David Brace delivered a presentation upon The Office of Rail Regulation, the operation’s current title. David had worked for the Rail Regulator during the past decade, following an earlier career in civil engineering, for about a quarter of a century. Upon his appointment to the ORR, David’s work entailed the Asset Register, investigating and reporting upon earthworks and infrastructure. This had enabled David to indulge his two passions, the outdoor life and railways. The digital presentation, illustrating David’s work, provided an insight into the demands of the job, exemplified most effectively by the re-opening preparations for Bathgate to Airdrie. Elsewhere, track renewal operations and ballast cleaning were covered in detail, David’s description impressively clear throughout. An improved understanding of track characteristics followed the Hatfield disaster, the highest priority subsequently given to maintenance and safety. Close-up photographs featured items that might otherwise escape the eye. The latter part of the presentation illustrated David’s world travels for the ORR, taking him to Europe, Australia, the USA. and Canada. His most recent adventure, not for the ORR, embraced India, recalling an earlier interlude in his career, when he was involved briefly with railway touring. David’s presentation was instructive - and highly entertaining.
Wednesday 23rd February 2011
Charter Trains
Paul Blowfield
Paul Blowfield visited Chichester in February, his subject the Charter Train business. The presentation was uniquely refreshing in construction, a description of the business itself alternating with photographic records. Paul outlined his association with the business from its inception as the Special Trains operation, during British Rail days, reviving memories of several early marketing projects that were imaginative and successful. The availability of surplus rolling stock at the time was an advantage, compared with today’s parsimonious approach railway operation, in which accountants and leasing requirements set the rules. The Special Trains unit became the first experiment in Privatisation from 1995, since when the problems associated with running operations, without the safety net of subsidy, have involved many casualties. Tour operators from the past 16 years were reviewed, names many will already have forgotten. Relatively few are now left in the business, survivors having mainly to cater for a general market rather than one directed at railway connoisseurs. The costs were clearly outlined, to include the particular needs for steam operation, the margins often wafer thin. This excellent presentation was supported by photography of the very highest calibre. Mainly Southern, it featured pictorial artwork of quality, rather than mere photographic records.
last updated: 26/01/12