Due to a navigational error, the boats ended up at different pubs for lunch, but both crews clearly enjoyed hearty lunches, having been restricted to meagre rations of tea, coffee and beer for nearly the whole morning. The weather was extremely kind. Sunshine most of the way, although the return journey was made into the teeth of a stiff breeze that sent ripples crashing against the boats. However, both survived and we came through safely at the end of a splendid day.

Saturday 19th July
Visit to Foxfield Railway

A dozen members visited the Foxfield Railway on the 19th July for their steam gala weekend. Six locomotives were in action, 0-6-0 Well Tank (Bellerophon) and Beyer Peacock 0-4-0 Saddle Tank (No. 1827) running double headed, Bagnell 0-6-0 Saddle Tank (Florence No.2), Hunslet 0-6-0 Saddle Tank (Wimblebury), Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn 0-6-0 Tank (Meaford No.2) and visiting Avonside 0-6-0 Saddle Tank (Portbury) in her distinctive livery of grey, lined and lettered black. These locomotives were providing an intensive passenger service between Caverswall Station and Dilhorne Park a distance of approximately two and three quarter miles. Included in our visit was a very comprehensive and informative tour of the workshops, museum and site given by Foxfield member David Scragg. After riding the train we were able to photograph the freight train demonstrations on the 1 in 19 gradient of the former Foxfield Colliery line.

Returning to the Station area a pint of real ale was enjoyed from the well stocked bar before commencing our journey home, on which a stop was made at Washwood Heath to photograph Duchess of Sutherland on the Chester - Paddington Cathedral Express.

Monday 30th June
Visit to Severn Valley Railway, Kidderminster

In a quite fortuitous anticipation of the rise in fuel prices, this year, the Branch’s summer programme of visits includes several events where we adopted the radical step of travelling by train to railway installations, rather than minibus. One such visit was on the 30th June when we spent the day at the Severn Valley Railway. A party of 5 set off from Northampton, plus 2 from Milton Keynes. We used the very reasonably priced through return ticket, which gives unlimited travel on the SVR for the day. On a beautiful sunny day, once on the SVR, we gradually dispersed to “do” the line in our individual ways, with our paths crossing as frequently as the trains operating on the day. It was good to see the line in full operation again and you didn’t have to look too closely to realize the sheer scale of the repairs that have been necessary to achieve its re-opening. The newly opened Engine House at Highley was impressive and a good spot to view passing trains while taking refreshment. Service trains on the day were hauled by 5164, 4566 and 7812. Making a striking contrast was 50049 working what looked to be a driving experience train. Notable visiting locos seen were Midland Compound 1000 [in the Engine House], 6024 and 6201.

Saturday 21st June
Visit to The Wells & Walsingham Light Railway

On the 21st June, nine souls participated in the Northampton Branch’s mini-bus trip to the Wells and Walsingham Railway in Norfolk. The Railway’s main claim to fame is that, at 4 miles, it is the longest 10.25 inch line in the world. It is built on the trackbed of the Great Eastern’s line to Wells Next-the-Sea and opened in 1982. We were made very welcome by Commander Roy Francis and his colleagues, who were only too happy to show us round and answer our many questions. As we gathered for the 2pm departure there was a heavy drizzle in progress and we were forced to use the covered carriages on the outward journey. Happily, it was fair for the return trip. The train was hauled by the 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garrett type loco, Norfolk Hero, built for the line in 1987. At present, it is the only steam loco at the railway, but we were told that as it had been so successful, another had been ordered. It took some careful driving on the uphill sections on wet rails as the train was well loaded in both directions, despite the weather. It was no coincidence that, on the return trip, we stopped briefly for the guard to collect a bucketful of sand considerately excavated from the side of a cutting by the rabbits residing there.

After our trip, we also travelled on the mile long Wells Harbour Railway by Wells Quay, also built by Commander Francis to the same gauge as the W&WR. This time the motive power was Howard, a diesel masquerading as a neat, and well kept, little steam locomotive. Despite a drop of rain, we were all agreed that it had been a grand day out.

Monday 16th June
Visit to Coventry Transport Museum and lineside observation at Nuneaton Station

On the 16th June, an ensemble of Branch members gathered at Northampton Station for a day out in Warwickshire. First we travelled to Coventry, where we turned our backs on the railway and visited the Museum of Road Transport in the city centre, Here, we saw gathered together, probably the finest collection of road vehicles to be seen anywhere and our Branch Secretary “Pick[ed]” an interesting route through the exhibits. In the afternoon, we travelled on to Nuneaton to spend time at the formerly known Trent Valley Station, viewing Pendolinos. Class 60 and 66 hauled freights, plus the Class 170 DMUs, resplendent in their new Cross Country liveries. In all, a very interesting excursion, which the members pleasantly enjoyed.

Monday 2nd June
West Midlands Day Ranger

Our first serious day out of the Summer Programme commenced with a West Midlands Day Ranger tour, and an impromptu decision to just train hop onto the next available that came within the scope of the ticket, the only proviso being that we alight at the nearest station to 13.00 hours for a lunch break.

Staring at 09.00 hours from Northampton we travelled via Birmingham New Street, Moor Street, Stratford on Avon, Leamington Spa, New Street, Bloxwich (an unlikely place to lunch), Rugeley (to see 34067 Tangmere heading south - we missed it was running early!), Stafford, Crewe, Stoke, Wolverhampton (refreshment), New Street and returning home at 23.00 hours. Phew!

Monday 28th April
Lineside observation at Wolverton Station

The 28th April saw a low key start to our outdoor “summer?” season on a cool, grey evening at Wolverton station on the WCML. The few members that did attend were witness to a fair snapshot of traffic as it is today on the line. Pendolinos predominated, but at least it is a location that displays their ability to tilt to good advantage. On the local services, a few of the 350s appeared in their new London Midland livery, whilst the old faithful 321s are starting to look shabby in debranded Silverlink livery. On the freight side, it will come as no surprise that 66s dominated. In the space of little over 2 hours, 66060/7/501/3/36/69 all passed by. 66067 had a part load of Land Rovers and Jaguars. Their monopoly was broken by 90049 and 86629+613 heading north on container trains. Arguably the highlight was the appearance of 90020 sweeping southwards round the curves in fine style on the Virgin+DVT Pendolino substitution set, bringing an excuse, along with the 86s, for a slight bout of nostalgia.

Monday 14th April
Branch Members evening

“A London shed where, if you please, the Germans say there are no trees”, was just one of the cryptic clues Norman Dunkley produced his quiz to identify steam loco depots, set as part of the Member’s Evening held on the 14th April to finish our indoor season. See if you can get it before you read to the end of this report. Less frustrating, but no less enjoyable, contributions came from four other Branch members. Bob Hunt got us off to a superb start with a fascinating set of slides dating back to 1962 – 64 in Kenya and Uganda. They were not exclusively of railways and included an expedition up Mount Kilimanjaro; street scenes in such places as Nairobi and Mombasa, with roads full of British built cars; and ships on Lake Victoria. Nevertheless, there was also excellent coverage of trains on the East African Railways system, including the impressive Garretts. Tommy Tomalin took us on a photographic tour of the “Midland route to Wolverhampton” – the line that ran from the Midland system through Willenhall and Wednesfield. Chris Clayson showed a miscellany of interesting slides he had recently inherited, many of them thought to be early slides from the Colour-rail stable. Finally, to round off the evening and the season, David Scudamore showed us some impressive shots of the Forth Bridge and the surrounding area. The shed, by the way, was Nine Elms.

Monday 31st March
The King Arthurs
Bob Goodman

It was the Southern Railway that dominated our meeting on the 31st March. Not a common occurrence, but welcome nonetheless. Bob Goodman returned to the Branch to tell the story of the King Arthurs.

Bob had amassed a wealth of information about the class, including first hand knowledge from those who had worked on them, including the well known driver, Bert Hooker. He explained how the design had originated from a need for larger and more powerful locomotives for passenger work and how, after some initial steaming problems, they had gone on to do sterling work on both the south western and south eastern routes. Lesser known than the drafting in of LNER locos when the Bulleid pacifics were temporarily withdrawn, the Second World War saw them at work in Scotland, the north east of England and on the former Great Central lines. We also got confirmation that odd naming policies are nothing new, with a few of the names carried having nothing to do with the Arthurian legends. Withdrawals started in 1958 and they were gone by 1962, luckily with one survivor. It was a very informative evening, well supported by slides and our thanks go to Bob once again.

Monday 17th March
American Wanderings
Gordon Davies

Although we frequently cover railways abroad, this writer cannot recall the last time the Branch had an evening devoted entirely to railroads in the United States. That was rectified on the 17th March by the attendance of Gordon Davies with his slide show entitled “American Wanderings”. Thanks to his frequent visits in recent years, Gordon was able to range widely over the whole of the United States and encompassed most of the major cities and locations of special railway interest. Gordon’s knowledge and enthusiasm for the colourful diesels and electrics of today and recent times, took centre stage, but preserved steam and the various urban light-rail and tramway systems, such as those operating in San Francisco, were also covered. Even trolley buses got a look in. However, the recurring theme was the shear scale of the system – trains more than a mile long – double stacked containers and car carriers – multiple locos per train [over 30,000 locos in operation in the States as a whole] – and so on. This was never more vividly illustrated than in the pictures Gordon had taken and around the famous Tehachapi Loop in California, with pictures of trains passing over and under themselves. Gordon’s knowledge, enthusiasm and super slides resulted in a most enjoyable evening.

Monday 10th March
Railways around Northamptonshire
Peter Butler

On the 10th March, the Branch held another of its now regular daytime meetings away from Northampton. This well attended meeting was held at Wellingborough, where we welcomed Peter Butler, a long-standing friend of the Branch, with a talk entitled Railways of Northamptonshire.

Despite the local nature of the topic, there were still things to be learned. When Peter opened by asking what was the first railway in the County, few, if any, knew it to be the Blisworth Hill Railway, which operated for 5 years to 1805 transhipping goods travelling by canal whilst the Blisworth canal tunnel was being built. One of Peter’s themes was that, although many of the railways he portrayed were long gone, there was still a lot of evidence of their existence if you were prepared to look for it. To make the point, he brought a section of L profile rail from that very Railway, that he had found when walking the route. From there, Peter went on to cover all the principal lines that once existed in the County with a fascinating set of slides and an entertaining and informative commentary. Thanks go to him for an afternoon well spent.

Tuesday 4th March
Quiz versus Bedford and St. Albans LCGB together with Milton Keynes RCTS

Despite a relatively small contingent making the trip to Bedford on the 4th March, the Northampton Branch retained the Ashes [of Ravenstone Wood Jc. signal box] in the away leg of our quiz with the Bedford Branch of the LCGB. As we beat the St Albans Branch of the LCGB as well, we also carried off the Fred Cockman Trophy in a parallel competition in which they also participate. Under the able captaincy of Ken Fairey, we came out winners by an unusually large margin. The final scores were Northampton 175, Bedford 144 and St Albans 129. Despite that, it was a hard fought contest. It wouldn’t be half as much fun if the evening went by without some dispute about the answers, or even the questions and this evening kept up that tradition. Bryan Cross, Bedford’s Chairman, was the man on the receiving end, having set the questions and acted as question-master He rode the challenges to his authority very well. Thanks go to him for setting an excellent quiz and to the Bedford Branch members themselves for their usual hospitality.

Monday 3rd March
Branch Photographic Competition

The Branch meeting on the 3rd March involved a large degree of audience participation as, for this year’s Photographic Competition, the audience did the judging. More often the role of judge rests with one person. With over 60 slides and 80+ photographs, competition was stiff and it was quite a task for the audience to choose; but choose they did and clear winners emerged from the mammoth voting process. Pete Munton won best photograph with Lester Cooper second and Pete Wilcox third. Lester also did well with second and third in the slides, but the winner was Bob Hunt. Thanks got to Ron Gammage, our regular projectionist, for grappling with a less than cooperative projector, and to all those that took the trouble to put in entries and contribute to such an entertaining evening.

Wednesday 27th February
Towcester Railway History
Andy Thompson

Our third annual afternoon visit to the Weston Favell Parish Hall (although from next September we will be meeting here in the afternoons at four weekly intervals) we welcomed Andy Thompson with his splendid power point presentation of 'Towcester Railway History. Andy admitted that his own interest in the subject began with a trip to the local supermarket with his brother, which brought forth the remark - 'you do know this is where the station was'. Endowed with a natural Inquisitive nature Andy researched not only Towcester but the whole of the line of what was eventually to become The Stratford upon Avon Midland Junction Railway (SMJ). Impoverished from its beginnings until its demise, the last remnants disappearing forty years ago, this highly recommended presentation brought it back to life, albeit only for the afternoon!

Monday 18th February
Light on the Lines
Mike McCormac FRPS

On the 18th February were treated to a Power-point presentation entitled Light on the Lines by Mike McCormac FRPS. To put the evening into context, Mike could be described as a photographer first and a railway enthusiast second, but the two came together very beautifully to give us an evening of exceptional images. Whilst there was some archive material, Mike concentrated on preserved steam, the current scene and steam abroad, notably a visit to steam in China taken a few days previously, mostly of the extensive colliery systems that operate there. The presentation exploited the benefits of Power-point very well and Mike’s commentary was amusing, informative and, at times, gently instructive. If you want to see just what a treat we had, got to www.mikemccormac.co.uk

Monday 4th February
Members Slides

Our booked speaker for the 4th February was sadly indisposed, leading to a scramble to pull in some substitute entertainment from Branch members. As a result, Ron Gammage, Derek Lovell and Tommy Tomalin covered the evening with slide shows. Ron showed us some slides from the collection of the late George Fowler. It consisted mainly of a striking collection of post WW2 colour slides of the Great Western and Southern Railways. Derek showed a miscellany of pictures taken on his travels over the years from which it was possible to detect an interest in grounded coach and wagon bodies. Tommy rounded off the evening in his inimitable style, taking us along the now long closed Rugby – Leicester line, including shots at the point at which passenger services were shared between steam and DMUs. Thanks go to all three for stepping into the breach at short notice and providing a very entertaining evening.

Monday 21st January
The North Wales Coast Part One
David Scudamore

On the 21st January, local member, Dave Scudamore, gave us a slide show entitled “North Wales Coast – Part 1”. With a very informative commentary throughout, Dave started at Chester and got as far as Rhyl before the end of the evening.

With the extensive railway infrastructure, past and present at Chester, there was a lot to cover before setting out along the coast. Using a mixture of historic and modern slides, both Chester General and Northgate stations were covered, plus the freight facilities and the loco sheds from the past to the new maintenance facility for DMUs; plus of course, the signal boxes, a particular favourite subject of the speaker. As we worked along the coast, there was an interesting diversion in the form of pictures taken in and around Shotton Steelworks.

The evening proved to be an entertaining insight into an area of the railway network that has not featured at Branch meetings in recent times. We look forward to Part 2.

Monday 14th January
Steam in Camera on Screen
Graham Stacey

On the afternoon of the 14th January, at our Wellingborough venue, 50+ attended for slide show presented by Graham Stacey. The slides in this case were taken from photographs in the Ken Nunn Collection, hence the title Steam in Camera on Screen.

What followed was a spell binding collection of images from the early years of the last century and even the last years of the one before. Starting with the Highland Railway, the show worked its way round most of the country and the major railway companies of the day. Ironically, given our venue, the one railway our intrepid early photographers seemed to have largely ignored was the Midland Railway!. To pick out just a few examples to give a flavour of the highlights; an NER Raven pacific on the Queen of Scots Pullman; the 1925 Stockton and Darlington Cavalcade; the GER “decapod” 0-10-0T; and a Talyllyn loco working on the Vale of Rheidol Railway. What’s more, many classes of loco, long disappeared, were brought back to mind. As striking as the pictures themselves was the quality and sharpness of the we images. They were remarkable, even by today’s standards, and all without the benefit of the development of photographic equipment and computers at our disposal. Thanks go to Graham for an enjoyable and informative afternoon.

Monday 7th January
GBRF
Mark Robertshaw

The first meeting of the New Year got off to a fine start with a presentation by First GBRf. Business Development Manager Mark Robertshaw took the 'hot seat' answering questions and providing facts and figures as we worked our way through the power point show. In six years the company turnover has increased by 800% and it now operates approximately 6% of the UK railfreight traffic with some forty prime movers and a fleet of more than five hundred and fifty wagons. It also operates sixteen Class 325 Royal Mail EMUs on postal services.With Core Depots at Peterborough, Willesden, Ferme Park, Eastleigh, Shieldmuir and Tonbridge a further six new Depots have been opened at Tyne Dock, Doncaster, Bristol, Wellingborough, Hull Docks and Whitemoor by this positive and progressive company as it continues to expand. A very interesting and informative evening from a company which is part of the largest UK listed surface transport group.

Monday 19th November 2007
Quiz versus Bedford LCGB and Milton Keynes RCTS

The Northampton Branch has regained the The Ashes [of Ravenstonewood Jc. Signalbox]. On the 19TH November, in a closely fought quiz with our traditional adversaries, the Bedford Branch of the LCGB, we came out on top by 60 points to 51. It is the first time for a few meetings that we have won and, for once, the Dumb Buffer [which strangely, is sprung and not dumb at all] adorns a mantelpiece, or the back of a cupboard, in deepest Bedfordshire. As usual, a few answers were challenged and one or two scores queried and re-assessed, but that is all part of the fun. Ken Fairey was our team captain once again and Brian Benford kindly set the questions.

Our thanks got to them and to our friends from Bedford for a most entertaining and, for some of us, a most informative, evening.

Monday 8th October 2007
The Faslane Military Railway and Shoeburyness WD Tramway
Mike Walshaw

Mike Walshaw was our guest on the 8th October with a talk on Military Railways. Mike featured two railways, the Faslane Military Railway, branching off the West Highland line and the Shoeburyness WD Tramway. The 3 mile Faslane Branch opened in 1942 in connection with the development of Faslane to provide additional deep water berths for the war effort. It remained open until 1981 to service the ship breaking industry that took over the site after the war. With the West Highland being a considerable height above sea level at this point, the Branch was heavily graded. Even the exchange sidings were on a gradient and so it must have been a tricky line to operate. Although not unique in this respect, it brought some unusual locos to Scotland, including GWR Dean Goods and ex GER J69s. WD 2-8-0s and an American built S180 also appeared the pictures shown.

Although developed during the 19th century, the Shoeburyness network still exists, albeit in reduced form and has become well known as a repository for the storage of surplus rolling stock. The term tramway is a misnomer as it is capable of taking heavy loads. Much of its early usage was associated with the transfer of, often very large, guns to the ranges and it even aspired to a regular passenger service until 1959. At its peak, it was quite an extensive and complex system, reaching northwards along the coast to Pigs Bay and the gunnery ranges.

Monday 24th September 2007
Before the Red Plague
John Chalcraft

John Chalcraft treated the Branch to a PowerPoint presentation entitled Before the Red Plague, in which John looked back nostalgically to the days when British built diesel locomotives held sway before the days of Class 66 domination. Starting from LMS 10000 pretty much every class was featured. Only one or two "one offs" may have been missed. Even some of the notoriously short lived classes, such as the D600 Warship series, got a look in. Also some of the earlier electric locos and the gas turbines were featured; and, even though it came perilously close to contradicting the title, Class 59 as well.

The beauty of this form of presentation is that black and white photographs can be displayed to a high standard and this capability was exploited to good effect by John, to whom thanks must go for a splendid evening.

Saturday 18th August 2007
Midland Railway Centre at Butterley

The Northampton Branch was on the road again on the 18th August on an oversubscribed trip to the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley. The Centre's superb Vintage Train was in service complete with volunteers in period costume to compliment the occasion. It was hauled by RSH 0-4-0ST Castle Donington No.1. The other loco in steam was Standard class 5 73129. For those of a narrow gauge disposition, the Golden Valley Railway was also in operation. The new workshop facilities for this Railway were very impressive. Diesels were well represented on site. Prominent amongst those present were 20907, 37314, 45041, 47401 and 50007. The standard of restoration work on some of the dmu vehicles was also very impressive. A pristine Derby Lightweight car M79900, was one example.

Back to steam and 6203 was at home in the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust's depot, accompanied by 80080 laid out very neatly as a kit of parts as it undergoes overhaul. Our party were free to go about their visits in their own individual ways and, despite the weather declining from dull, through drizzle to steady rain as the day progressed, it seemed that a good time was had by all.

August 2008