Meeting Reports

Monday 10th May 2010
German Steam
Tom Hobin

At our May meeting Tom Hobin from Felixstowe gave a presentation on "German Steam" prior to the reunification of East and West Germany. Tom explained that, as well as railways, he takes a particular interest in the countries he visits and their people.He seems to have a capacity for making friends wherever he goes, often to the advantage of his hobby. Thus on one occasion we found him kitted out in uniform by a GDR footplate crew enabling him to travel incognito on the footplate of a locomotive hauling a sand train! On another occasion he was befriended by a railway machine shop operator who allowed him to camp under his plum tree at a particularly strategic photographic location.

We saw a great variety of steam traction - Class 44s and 23s in the Rhine and Moselle valleys; Prussian built P8 4-6-0s and P78s with their distinctive chimneys; and the unique Class 02, 18201, complete with streamlining and a Giesl ejector. Diesel traction was not omitted entirely and we saw Class 221 diesel hydraulics and, surprisingly, a former Wehrmacht diesel shunter from World War Two! We heard how cross border train crews from the GDR were selected on the basis of having strong family ties rendering them less likely to defect. We also heard how one particular German enthusiast always dressed as a railway official in order to gain access to sites. Needless to say he entertained Tom to a barbecue.

As well as wonderful explorations on the once extensive 750mm gauge network in the former GDR Tom also showed photographs of the Reichstag prior to restoration and the East German border prior to reunification. We finished with four Class 86s at an end of steam event with one of the crews playing Elvis Presley's "Wooden Heart." A fascinating and memorable evening.

Monday 12th April 2010
Another Look at Ireland
David Soggee

David Soggee paid a return visit to the branch on 12 April with some fine slides taken in the early 1960s entitled “Another look at Ireland” During the evening we learnt many interesting facts including that the gauge of the Belfast- Armagh line was for some time 6’2” and 18 2-6-4Ts built at Derby between 1946 and 1951 were shipped to Ireland as kits of parts and assembled on arrival. Finance was always a problem for the Irish railways and the Great Northern Railway was declared bankrupt in 1953. Some idea of the parlous state of the system was shown by a slide of a very ugly diesel supplied by Harland and Wolff (which bore a striking resemblance to a ship!) and two 0-6-4Ts built in 1946 by Beyer Peacock which were only ever on lease there being insufficient cash to buy them outright. Many of the slides covered a variety of lines in Northern Ireland and the evening was brought to a close with a fine shot of GS&WR J15 0-6-0 186 on a steam rail tour in 1972.

Monday 8th March 2010
British Diesels from 10000 to the Class 60
John Chalcraft

On 8th March we had a repeat visit by John Chalcraft from Bristol who once again gave a splendid presentation entitled "60 years of British Main Line Diesel Locomotives” John took us very logically through the introduction of the various classes together with their launch dates. Starting with 10000 and 10001 at Tebay in 1948 (one still lettered LMS) we moved to the introduction of the English Electric Deltics in 1955, the Class 20s in 1957, the "Toffee Apples" (5500 series later numbered in the 3100s) and the launch of the Diesel Hydraulics from Swindon in 1958. Next came the Class 40s, the Hymeks in 1962, the notorious Class 61s and the Claytons which always seemed to go around in pairs. The individual slides were too many to mention but one or two are well worthy of note. One slide depicted a Hymek banking a Hall in the West Country, a pair of Class 37s banking at Bromsgrove and a beautiful shot of 60023 crossing a viaduct mirrored in the River Avon below. A great evening well recommended to other branches.

Monday 8th February 2010
Mr D's Review of 2009
John Day

On 8th February local committee member John Day managed to spare the time to give us a presentation between his many trips abroad. This time he chose to cover the railway scene as observed during his travels through 2009 to America, Canada and around England with a fine selection of digital images of exceptional quality. We were treated to shots of grain trains on the Canadian Pacific at Lake Louise and Banff and Canadian National trains one of which was 147 cars long. Massive double-stack trains were seen crossing the Arizona desert and through the Californian mountain ranges. Rare BNSF and UP business passenger trains were photographed as well as seeing multi-powered trains meeting in Arizona's Kingman Canyon. Many US trains are run with distributed power units set throughout and at the rear of trains. Returning to the sanity of England we saw a Class 37 with a manager's saloon at the Sizewell nuclear processing plant at Leiston, 97304 in Network Rail yellow livery at Derby, EWS 37670 at Walsall in one livery only to appear a few days later in a different livery.(DB Schenker). Steam also featured in the presentation with 60163 Tornado being piloted by 67003 at Colchester. Numerous shots at the North Norfolk Railway Gala with the L&Y 0-6-0, BR Standard 78019 and the N7 and J15 double heading a train at Weybourne. There was a remarkable view of GWR 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe at Marylebone that was followed by some dramatic steam scenes on the Settle & Carlisle scenes in some of the worst imaginable weather. With the exception of the final image all were in chronological date order and all were not necessarily railway related as we were treated to images of a wolf, a polar bears and an Arctic Fox too! The presentation concluded with the final image taken on 19th December of a dramatic snow scene shot depicting A4 60019 'Bittern' powering through Thetford Forest en route to Norwich.

Monday 14th December 2009
Branch AGM and Christmas Meeting

The Branch AGM was held on 14th December and the committee was elected as follows - Chairman Eric Palmer, Secretary Steve Cobb, Treasurer Colin Prime and Committee members Bev Steele, Dave Swale and newcomer Peter Coghill. John Day was welcomed back to the committee and he has offered to do the job of web correspondent. Colin Prime was complimented on his efforts which produced some remarkable sales results at exhibitions and at branch meetings. Following the meeting we then enjoyed a feast of mince pies, sausage rolls and scotch eggs together with tea, coffee and visits to the bar. The evening was brought to a close with a fine selection of slides some dating back to the 1950s provided by Bev Steele, Rod Fowkes, Richard Tyson, David Chappell, Peter Coghill, Paul Clayton and Steve Cobb.

Monday 9th November 2009
Mike's Meanderings 1959-63 and War Department Diesels
Mike Walshaw

Mike Walshaw paid a return visit on 9th November with a presentation entitled “Mike’s Meandrings 1959-1963” and “War Department Diesels” The first part of the evening was taken up with excellent slides of steam on the Isle of Man, the Adams Radial on the Axminster branch, the Bodmin and Wadebridge branch and a unique slide of three Southern Z class tanks waiting to bank trains up from Exeter St.Davids to Exeter Central. A truly historical scene was the LBSCR Terrier “Bluebell” working the first train on the opening of the Bluebell railway on 7th August 1960. The second half of the evening was devoted to a fascinating account of the wanderings of early diesels in the second world war some even sailing across the Channel on D-day. The LMS experimented with diesel shunters in the 1930s some mechanical, some electric and even a diesel hydraulic built by the Vulcan Foundry. Many of these early prototypes were commandeered by the War Department and some still exist in WD depots around the country. A very informative and entertaining evening.

Monday 12th October 2009
1000 Eggs on a Bicycle
Colin Boocock

Colin Boocock travelled from Derby to give his talk entitled “1000 Eggs on a Bicyle” Several branches have had this talk and it really is a fascinating tour stretching from Ireland to New Zealand. At least one slide was shown for every year from 1947 to 2009. So up to date was it that the final slide depicted the train he arrived on that afternoon ! Amongst the many unique shots were GWR AEC diesel rail car No1, the Grimsby & Immingham Tramway, Metropolitan electric locomotives at Rickmansworth, a derailed Southern H15 and a wonderful view of the Monsal Dale viaduct in steam days. A slide which most members had never seen before was of Merchant Navy 35029 Ellerman Lines being sectioned in a field in Lincolnshire before being taken to the National Railway Museum where it is now displayed as a working exhibit. A first class evening – it will be unfair to disclose the explanation of the title of this presentation.

Monday 14th September 2009
The M&GN – 50 Years On
Nigel Digby

The winter programme opened on 14th September when Nigel Digby gave a presentation entitled “50 years without the M&GN in Norfolk” to an audience of nearly forty members and visitors. The majority of the slides shown depicted the remains of overbridges, tunnels, stations and some very unique signal boxes on the portion of the line between KingsLynn and Norwich. At Melton Constable (known as the Crewe of the M&GN) it is still possible to see the remains of the works machine shop and the carriage and wagon paint shop. At Sheringham there still stands the down distant signal on the original concrete post – needless to say the iron ladder to the post has long since rusted away. A visitor travelled all the way from Lowestoft to attend this meeting and he brought with him the smoke box numberplate from Ivatt2-6-0 43111 which was a regular performer on the M&GN before it was finally closed in 1959.