Croydon & South London
Meeting Reports
Monday 14th November 2011
Controlling the South Eastern
Brian Garvin, latterly Control Manager, British Rail South Eastern Division
At our meeting in Croydon on Monday evening 14th November we were joined by Brian Garvin, one-time Duty Control Manager of the South Eastern Division of British Rail (Southern Region), who talked to us about “Controlling the South Eastern”.
Brian introduced himself by giving a very brief summary of his career from the Manchester area via Rugby to the then Southern Region. He outlined the evolution of the South Eastern Division from the London, Chatham & Dover Railway and South Eastern Railway to the end of British Rail.
He took as the basis of his talk the formal procedures issued in booklet form in 1974, which laid down very clear instructions for the duties of the Divisional Control Office and the exchange of information with Headquarters, stations, signalboxes and depots. This enabled the Control to carry out its prime function of monitoring the operation of trains in its geographical area and to guide the working back to the plan whenever necessary.
He closed his presentation with a number of photographs of trains in the Bromley and Beckenham areas during the days of the Mark 1 EMUs, bringing back memories to many of those present. It was evident from the comments, questions and applause that all present enjoyed the evening’s entertainment.
Monday 10th October 2011
73082 Camelot – from BR to Bluebell
Peter Gibbs, Chairman, 73082 Camelot Locomotive Preservation Society
We returned to our normal meeting place in Croydon on Monday 10th October for a talk by Peter Gibbs, Chairman of the 73082 Camelot Locomotive Society since 1978, entitled “73082 Camelot – from BR to Bluebell”. He started by showing a slide of Camelot in all its preserved glory on the Bluebell Railway then confused everyone by showing G. J. Churchward’s “Saint” class 4-6-0 of the Great Western Railway. He went on to trace briefly the development from this first modern outside cylinder 4-6-0 via Collett’s “Hall” class and Stanier’s “Black 5” of the L.M.S. to R.A. Riddles’s B.R. Standard class 5 4-6-0. Unsurprisingly in view of the strong L.M.S. influence at the top of the new British Railways it was a very small step in development between these last two classes. Indeed the boiler of the standard locomotive was virtually the same as the type 3B boiler used on the L.M.S. class 5.
Peter then traced the history of the Society since its foundation in 1974, to the purchase of 73082 from Dai Woodham and its removal from Barry to its restoration to working order in 1995
An early problem was the absence of a suitable tender at Barry. However, with the help of the Bluebell Railway it was established that suitable tenders had previously been sold to Briton Ferry Steel Works and the superstructure removed to allow the underframe to be used for the internal movement of steel ingots. An acceptable underframe was purchased but it was necessary for the complete tender tank to be constructed at Shipyard Services, Brightlingsea, who were seeking to replace declining shipping orders by railway work.
Peter then showed slides accompanied by an expert commentary that emphasized the amount of engineering work that had to go into the restoration. This entailed huge amounts of effort and financial support from members of the Society. He also acknowledged the contributions made by Shipyard Services of Brightlingsea, the South Devon Railway and especially the Bluebell Railway.
Camelot performed exemplarily through its ten years’ service until it was withdrawn for its current overhaul and is now hoped to be back in service by about 2014.
Wednesday 28th September 2011
The Last Days of Southern Steam
Klaus Marx, Railway Historian
For our annual afternoon visit to Wimbledon Community Centre, on Wednesday 28th September, we were entertained by Klaus Marx, who presented a selection of slides from the last days of Southern steam. He covered the years from the early 1960s to the final days in July 1967 taking us from Waterloo to the West of England then to Weymouth with diversions to various secondary and branch lines along the way. Needless to say unrebuilt and rebuilt Bulleid pacifics featured strongly, with support from B.R. and other Southern types, and a sprinkling of Ivatt 2-6-2Ts.
Monday 12th September 2011
The History of St. Pancras Station
Doug Irvine
For our first meeting of the new session on 12th September we were visited by Doug Irvine who spoke on “The History of St. Pancras Station”. Doug first considered the need for St. Pancras Station and outlined briefly the problems being experienced by the Midland Railway in operating their services via Bedford and Hitchin into the Great Northern Railway’s terminus at Kings Cross. He described the building of the new station including the necessity of clearing the slum housing and cemetery in Agar Town.
Next he described the justification for the Midland Grand Hotel and its external and internal design. He showed pictures contrasting its early magnificence with its decline as it became less well used and eventually merely offices for the LMS Railway and subsequently British Railways.
Doug described the battle led by John Betjeman to keep the station open when moves were afoot to close it in the 1960s and transfer all train services to the adjacent Kings Cross Station. Fortunately this did not come about so the way was open for St. Pancras to be refurbished and re-emerge as the magnificent terminus of what is now known as HS1 – the high-speed line from the Channel Tunnel.
Doug finished by answering questions – the number and variety of which showed how he had enthralled the larger than usual audience including some guests.
Monday 8th August 2011
DLR trip
Our outdoor expedition on Monday 8th August took the form of a return visit to the Docklands Light Railway. Meeting first at London Bridge main line station we set off on the Northern Line to Bank where we joined a DLR train to Poplar. One of our party was surprised to find that most formations now consisted of three articulated pairs rather than the one or two that he remembered from a previous visit. From Poplar we journeyed to Stratford pausing at Pudding Mill Lane for a surprisingly close view of the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre. We had hoped to travel on the new branch from Stratford International to Canning Town but as it hadn’t yet opened we had to make do with the Jubilee Line, then back on to the DLR to Poplar, Canary Wharf and Lewisham. From here we returned to London Bridge for our trains home. It was a nerve-racking approach to East Croydon with the smell of burning from the riots in the adjacent town centre. However, all participants made it home safely – albeit after a two miles walk in one case!
Saturday 16th July 2011
Visit to the Spa Valley Railway
A long-awaited return to the Spa Valley Railway took place on Saturday 16th July following the opening of the Railway’s extension, on 25th March 2011, from Groombridge to Eridge with a footbridge link to Southern’s London Bridge to Uckfield Line. Our day began by travelling on that line, through rain and mist, on the 11.23 service from East Croydon to Eridge where we enjoyed an excellent lunch at The Huntsman pub close by the station. We joined the 14.10 steam train from Eridge, headed by LMS Jinty No 47493, and were given a rundown by the guard, in between carrying out his duties, on the features of the new extension and the particular safety requirements of the interface with Network Rail. At Tunbridge Wells West we were warmly welcomed by Station Master Brian Halford who gave us a very thorough tour of the Loco shed and yard and ensured that we were on the 16.20 train to Eridge, headed by Class 37/0 No 37254 “Driver Robin Prince M.B.E.”, to connect with the 16.51 Southern service back to East Croydon. A most enjoyable day.
Monday 11th July 2011
London Overground Trip
On Monday 11th July our now customary small group travelled from West Croydon by the 18.09 London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL) service on the upgraded East London Line, Phase 1 of which had been completed in February 2011 with the opening of the link between Dalston Junction and Highbury & Islington. Our Class 378 Capitalstar emu was crowded, an indication of the popularity of the new service. We transferred to LOROL’s North London Line at Highbury & Islington with the intention of journeying to Gospel Oak and thence to Barking on another section of LOROL’s expanding network. Our train, however, terminated at Camden Road where we found crowded platforms and actively engaged station staff, all due to a failed train which was blocking points at Gospel Oak. We did, after considerable delay, get our ride on the so called GOBLIN Line on a Class 172 Turbostar dmu, introduced to the line in May 2010. At Barking we said our farewells and returned to central London by our preferred routes, the station being an interchange with C1C and London Underground’s District and Hammersmith & City lines.
Monday 13th June 2011
Summer Dinner
The Branch Summer outdoor meetings started on Monday 13th June with our seasonal dinner at The Cricketers/Harvester restaurant in Addington Village, a twelve minute tram journey from East Croydon station. Our group of eight was smaller than in previous years but managed to stretch the resources of a very busy restaurant (on a Monday evening, in a recession!). We were offered, and accepted, a table in the bar, were well fed and watered and had a very convivial evening.
Monday 9th May 2011
The Brighton Atlantic Project
David G Jones, Secretary & Treasurer, Brighton Atlantic Project
When Branch members and visitors assembled for the meeting on Monday 9th May they found a Beachy Head nameplate displayed for all to examine. This has been owned by the Society since the locomotive was scrapped in 1958.
The reason for its presence was the visit of David Jones of the Bluebell Railway Atlantic Project to tell us about the building of a replacement Brighton Atlantic– the chosen locomotive being B.R. No. 32424 Beachy Head, the last Atlantic to run in normal service on British Railways.
David traced the ancestry of the class from H. A. Ivatt’s small- and large-boilered Atlantics for the Great Northern Railway – of which nos. 990 Henry Oakley and 251 are part of the National Collection - via the five locomotives designed by Douglas Earle Marsh (subsequently to be classified H1) to the six locomotives which became Class H2.
David showed photographs of all four classes - especially of Beachy Head in immaculate condition working enthusiasts’ specials.
He described the progress of work on the new Beachy Head. The project really got under way with the discovery of two Ivatt Atlantic boilers at Shipyard Services, Maldon, Essex, and the purchase of the one in better condition. A major boost was the loan of original drawings from the National Railway Museum. Work was slow and inconvenient in the open air but is now proceeding steadily under cover in Atlantic House at Sheffield Park. The current major focuses of attention are the frames, wheels and motion.
Much of the funding comes from standing order donations but more are needed to see the project to completion.
An original nameplate from class H2 Atlantic 32424 Beachy Head Chris Meredith
Monday 11th April 2011
The Photographs of the late R. C. (Dick) Riley
Rodney Lissenden
For our next evening meeting – back home in Croydon on Monday evening 11th April we returned to much more familiar territory for many of us when former Society Chairman and current Vice President Rodney Lissenden showed a selection of slides taken by the late R.C. (Dick) Riley.
These were arranged in order of the former B.R. regions starting with the London Midland Region and progressing to the Western, Eastern and Southern Regions with a few from Scotland. The photographs shown ranged from the mid 1950s to the end of steam in 1968 and included a wealth of incidental detail on station furniture, people’s dress and road transport. It was evident that Rodney – who was a close friend of Dick – was immensely proud of being allowed to act as custodian of this collection and to use it to produce his sumptuous publication Steam in England. He expressed his gratitude to Christine and David - Dick’s wife and son who were in the audience - for allowing him to do so.
Wednesday 30th March 2011
Indian Broad Gauge
Laurie Marshall
Fifteen branch members and visitors turned out on a somewhat rainy Wednesday 30th March in Redhill for our annual afternoon meeting in that town.
Laurie Marshall – author of a trilogy of books on the narrow, standard and broad gauge railways of India- presented a selection of slides on the Indian Broad (5ft 6in.) Gauge from his extensive collection amassed over 27 visits to the country since 1970. He had returned from his latest visit only three weeks previously.
After showing a wide selection of the various locomotives in traffic and on shed he finished up with a “taster” of his slides featuring the Darjeeling Himalayan narrow gauge railway on which services are sadly suspended owing to a serious landslip at Pagla Jhora in June 2010. Reinstatement of the line is dependent on repairs to the adjacent road.
Monday 14th March 2011
Branch AGM, Members' Slides & Photographic Competition
The Branch AGM took place on Monday 14 March. Geoff Lipscombe, Jeremy Harrison and Peter Wilson were re-elected as Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary respectively. Chris Meredith and Bob Prescott were also re-elected to the Committee, while requests for nominations to fill a further Committee post went unheeded.
There followed the fourth annual Branch Photographic Competition. In stark contrast to last year when a minimum number of six entries was offered, this year's Competition attracted a very welcome bumper crop of 25 pictures from nine entrants, all worthy of our attention. As last year, however, on a show of hands two images tied for first place and transferable votes were again used to decide the winning entry, Geoff Brockett’s excellent picture of IoMR 2-4-0T No.12 Hutchinson approaching Port Soderick.
Isle of Man Steam Railway 12 Hutchinson at Keristal with the 16.20 Douglas-Port Erin on 15th July 2008 Geoff Brockett
Members' slides concluded the evening and Geoff Brockett was again in action with a selection of images taken over the past 12 months or so, during his wanderings as Greater London sub-editor for Branch Line News - these demonstrated the great amount of activity and changes taking place on the railway network in the London area. Geoff Lipscombe took us to see steam traction in Rumania and Hungary and we continued our European journey in Italy and Sardinia with a random selection of slides by Jeremy Harrison who finally brought us home via the Bodmin and Wenford and Bluebell Railways.
Monday 14th February 2011
Portuguese Steam in the 1960s
Hugh Gould, Society President
On 14 February, we welcomed back Society President Hugh Gould. We were very pleased that Hugh had agreed to dig out his slides of Portuguese Steam in the 1960s and were delighted that his presentation attracted a large audience devoted to the subject. Hugh had first visited Portugal in 1964 and stayed in Oporto, which became the centre to which we returned frequently during the evening. Here we were able to enjoy train workings in and out of the historic and highly atmospheric São Bento station, and from where we could follow Hugh on his photographic excursions on both Portuguese standard broad gauge track (originally 1664mm, later 1668mm Iberian gauge) and the several narrow metre gauge lines which prevail in the north of the country. Steam locomotive stock had been acquired from several European countries and provided a variety of interesting designs. Those which we saw illustrated included Beyer Peacock 0-6-0s, De Glehn and Borsig-type 4-6-0s, Henschel 4-8-0s, Kessler 2-6-0Ts, Henschel 2-8-2Ts, and the magnificent Mallet-type Henschel 2-4-6-0Ts. Also included was a brief introduction to Oporto’s trams, and a cavalcade of some of Portugal's picturesque historic railway stock in 1966. Hugh presented all this entirely without notes, in his customary way, and with an obvious warmth and enthusiasm for the country and its formerly steam railway.
last updated: 23/11/11