Meeting Reports

Monday 10th May 2010
Railway Relics

With some trepidation as to whether it would interest members, the subject for the final meeting of the 2009/10 indoor session was for members to bring along a relic or two and explain their history and relevance to the owner. The committee's fears were ungrounded as the evening was a success. There was a wide variety of objects brought, their histories recounted where possible and much audience participation as other personal memories were recalled. The "relics" displayed and discussed included an Irish Railway working timetable, documentation recalling shed visits with hilarious methods explained of how not to gain entry without a permit, class 86 cab equipment, pottery fragments and other artefacts found on rail walks, overhead line contact wire, a westinghouse pump worksplate, various locomotive and wagon worksplates, London underground station platform tickets, a station nameboard, a locomotive drivers diary from 1963, a small whistle of unknown origin and a cab notice from a NER Newport-Shildon electric locomotive.

Our many thanks to Keith Marshall, Pete Skinner, Robert Pritchard, Enid Vincent, Phil Lockwood, Alan Lovecy, David Munday, Les Nixon and Howard Turner for bringing their relics and stimulating the contribution and comments from the audience.

Monday 26th April 2010
Breakdowns & A Selection of Slides
Alan Lovecy & Les Nixon

Apologies to any member who was expecting the previously advertised speaker on the 26th April. Due to time restraints, it was only possible to detail the new speakers at the previous meeting and on the website.

For the first part of the evening, Alan Lovecy briefly talked about the arrangements for dealing with restoring train services after derailments and collisions with particular reference to the Tinsley depot set up in the 1960s and 70s. A selection of slides showed some of the equipment available and how they were used in service to put vehicles back on the track. Les Nixon followed with a selection of slides taken from the 1960s to the present day. The emphasis was on the 70s and 80s and whilst mainly of local scenes, other parts of the country also featured. The diesel enthusiasts in particular were thoroughly entertained by the excellent standard of the slides that we have to come to expect from Les and the varied content of locomotives and units. Our thanks to Alan and Les for stepping in to provide the entertainment for the evening.

Monday 12th April 2010
60 Years down the Line with a Camera in tow
Martin Welch

Martin Welch made a welcome return to Sheffield on the 12th April to present a slide show entitled "60 Years down the line with a camera in tow". The first slide shown was actually from 1949 depicting a castle class 4-6-0 at Shrewsbury. Then followed a selection of black and white scenes mainly from the 1950's at Macclesfield and Crewe. Following Martin's railway career around the Midland Region the slides changed to colour and the locations widened to include Aberdeen, Cowes and Shap. Several of the scenes were recorded on railtours and following the last BR steam specials there were reminders of the return to steam of many of the preserved locomotives before ending with a sequence of royal train shots, Austrian and Portuguese steam and finally a shot of Martin's beloved LMS Duchess class. An excellent and varied programme enlivened by excellent photography, many unusual angle scenes and by Martin's personal anecdotes.

Monday 22nd March 2010
The Jubilees
R Goodman

The LMS Jubilee class was the subject of Bob Goodman's presentation on the 23rd March and proved a popular topic resulting in another large audience. Bob started by oulining the origin of the class, their introduction into service and depot allocations. He also briefly mentioned modifications and conversions, the services worked, their performance in traffic and their final run down in the 1960s. The second part of the evening was devoted to a selection of slides from the 1930s to their demise. Not all of the 191 locomotives were included and Bob apologised if a person's favourite was not shown. Bob used the slides to demonstrate the various modifications to the locomotives applied over their years in service. Our many thanks to Bob for the splendid talk enlivened by his humour and anecdotes from footplate staff and for allowing the audience to recall their own memories of the class which were stalwarts of the Sheffield railway scene for many years.

Monday 8th March 2010
Mainly Steam on Three Continents
Mike Swift

Following recent meetings with the local subjects of Mexborough Depot and the Yorkshire Engine Company, the audience on the 8th March were taken much further afield when Mike Swift gave his presentation entitled "Steam on Three Continents". The excellent colour slides were accompanied by an expert commentary with many personal stories and anecdotes. First up was Europe with scenes in Poland, The Ukraine and with presenter's licence Syria and Jordan. The second continent was Africa and include South Africa and Botswana. Finally to Argentina to conclude the three continents. The slides shown were all from special and charter services dating back several decades and included standard, narrow gauge and industrial locomotives with a few examples of diesel traction. A well received presentation on locations not familiar to most of the audience but now nearly all no longer available. Our many thanks to Mike for an excellent presentation and entertaining evening.

Monday 22nd February 2010
The Yorkshire Engine Company
Tony Vernon

Another local subject for the meeting on 22nd February when Tony Vernon gave his presentation entitled "The Yorkshire Engine Company". Tony started by giving the reasons why he came to produce a book on the subject and then stated that the history of the company from the founding in 1865 to closure of the works in 1965 could be split into five phases covering different managements. Initially the company had several links to the Great Northern Railway and there were many interchanges of personnel with railway companies over the years. Locomotives were produced for many overseas companies but payment was often slow or not at all. To ensure continuation of work, the company diversified over the years into general engineering products mainly for local industries such as steel and coal mining. At one stage even car production was attempted. Even so, the company was never really profitable and did well to survive the many ups and downs. United Steels took over the company in 1945 and seeing the future, went into diesel locomotives but in the 1960,s falling orders coupled with a flood of locomotives to the secondhand market led to closure in 1965. Many of the products of the Meadowhall works still exist today in many parts of the world though not all in working order. Our many thanks to Tony for making the journey from Essex and giving such a detailed history of this fascinating company and its products.

Monday 8th February 2010
Mexborough Loco Shed
M Brearley

Mike Brearley attended the branch on 8th February to deliver his talk and presentation on the subject "Mexborough Loco Shed". He described the origin and history of the depot and the locomotive classes allocated to the depot from 1923 to closure. These were amply illustrated with photographs taken over a wide time span. The strengths and weaknesses of the classes were highlighted and Mike was ably assisted by comments from a retired driver colleague familiar with the locomotives. The footplate staff covered a wide range of routes and different traffics though after the 1923 grouping, some work was transferred to Doncaster.

Mexborough was not a well documented depot but was unique in having large numbers of locomotives of one class allocated and several unique types allocated such as the LNER S1's, Q1's and the Worsborough banker Garratt. As a bonus item, Mike showed a 1960's cine film produced by a signalman based at Thrybergh Junction box with scenes inside the box and views of the passing traffic which was largely early DMU classes and class 31.37 and 47 locomotives.

Our many thanks to Mike and colleague for their efforts which were greatly appreciated by the audience who had memories of this local depot.

Monday 25th January 2010
Annual General Meeting

The branch AGM was held on 25th January with an attendance of 19 members. The minutes of the previous AGM on the 26th January 2009 were accepted and signed. The chairman Peter Hall presented his report in which he comprehensively covered the subjects of indoor meetings and outdoor fixtures and thanked the other committee members for their contributions to the successful running of the branch. Alan Hardman then presented his treasurer's report explaining the make up of each item and stated that the branch still had sufficient funds. Consequently there will be no increase in the suggested voluntary contributions for meeting attendance. As no other members were put forward for the committee, the existing committee was re-elected. The meeting had a long discussion on the format and content of indoor meetings and agreed to continue with afternoon meetings following the success of the recent one on the 20th January. Les Nixon has resigned from the post of fixtures secretary with effect from after compiling the 2010/11 session. The members were asked to consider if they would be prepared to take up this position as without suitable indoor meetings, the branch may cease to exist. Following brief outlines of the branch website, society publications and a prospective branch 60th anniversary celebration, the meeting closed as there was no other business.

Wednesday 20th January 2010
Memories of Sheffield Midland Station
Howard Turner

For the Branch's trial afternoon meeting on 20th January an audience of over 40 members and guests were present. Howard Turner enthralled those in attendance with his "Memories of Sheffield Midland station" both verbally and pictorially, from his first 'cop' in 1944 to the present situation of Voyagers, Meridians and expensive cups of tea. Many of the more unusual locomotives and rolling stock that had visited the station had been caught on film as well as views of some of its lesser known parts and the surrounding area. As well as the projected slides, Howard laid out a display of photographs and a large plan of the station in the 1950's, kindly loaned by Graham Hague. Our thanks to Howard for putting together such an excellent presentation which made the meeting such a success.

Monday 11th January 2010
35 years of Diesels in the Peak District
Phil Lockwood & Enid Vincent

Braving the inclement weather, a smaller number of members and guests than normal were present to receive the presentation by Enid Vincent and Phil Lockwood on the theme "35 Years of Diesels in the Peak District". The diesels included a wide variety of the dmu's and locomotives to be found in the area working regular pasenger and freight trains and specials during the period on the route taken for the presentation from Grindleford to Hindlow via Chinley. New Mills and Buxton. The audience were impressed by the presenters knowledge of the geography of the area, the history of the routes covered, the types of wagons and traffic flows. The excellent photography and choice of scenes fully complemented the superb scenery of the Peak District and highlighted the immense contribution the vast limestone quarries make to the rail industry and the local community. We were not even spared the sight of snow and wintry weather in some of the scenes. Many thanks to Enid and Phil for providing a cracking start to 2010 and for a show well worth turning out for in the wintry weather.

Wednesday 16th December 2009
Christmas Social Evening

The final meeting for 2009 was the now traditonal Christmas social evening with suitable seasonal refreshments. Keith Marshall opened the proceedings with a fifty slide selection from the period November 1988 to January 1989. In spite of the short time zone, a lot of ground was covered from Lincoln to Merseyrail via the Settle and Carlisle and include a wide variety of locomotives and units. The slides were followed by a quiz set by Alan Lovecy. A wide variety of topics were included in the twenty questions plus bonus points which proved to much as the overall scores were lower than anticipated. He apologises for this and will try harder next time - if the members dare to let him have another go. Congratulations then to the joint winners, Keith Glossop and Peter Hall. The raffle was then held which was the end of organised entertainment and allowed all those present to partake of the ample refreshments. Our thanks to all those members who provided the refreshments and the raffle prizes and to Keith and Alan for their contributions to the evening.

Monday 7th December 2009
The South Yorkshire Joint Railway – Part 2
Bob Gellatly

Almost exactly a year later, the journey along the "South Yorkshire Joint Railway" restarted from the stop atMaltby when Bob Gellatly came back to the branch on the 7th December to present part 2, the continuationto Kirk Sandall via Firbeck and Harworth. Again Bob's detailed knowledge from personal experience and research took the audience into every nook and cranny of the line. From the scenes of the early days of the route to the current scene, we were made aware of how the line had been rationalised and how the loss of the traffic from the collieries along the route has changed the traffic over it to a through route. Eventoday there are still traces of the stations and the lifted route to Firbeck colliery. The talk was amply illustrated with maps and aerial views of the route and thanks to the modern electronic equipment Bob provided, a snippet of a DVD was shown.Our many thanks to Bob for a thoroughly entertaining evening on a line near to home but probably rarely visited by most of the audience.

Monday 23rd November 2009
Recent Travels
Steve Batty

The Sheffield branch was pleased to welcome Steve Batty on the 23rd November for a slide show entitled"Recent Travels". These were mainly from the past two years and largely covered the fairly local scenesin South and West Yorkshire which brought home to the audience the large number of rapidly changingliveries to be found on locomotives and units. Steve obviously knows the areas well and was careful in his choice of locations, though sometimes these turned out to be rather precarious. Freight traffic to the power stations were featured and scenes from other parts of the country and preserved lines were not neglected. A few slides were from foreign travels to such distant locations as Ny Alesund (Spitzbergen) and Bangkok. Steve welcomed comments and questions from the audience which added to the enjoyment of the presentation.Our thanks to Steve for a varied programme of excellent slides showing many locations new to the audience and who were very pleased to have a bonus box of "golden oldies" dating back to the 1960's toround off the evening.

Monday 9th November 2009
Last Years of BR Real Steam
Roger Jones

Roger Jones came to Sheffield on the 9th November for a nostalgic slide show entitled "Last Years of BR Real Steam". The slides covered the period 1963-68 and included to us some rare scenes of long gone branch lines such as to Uppingham, Ripley, Wirksworth and Halesowen. Also included were many other parts of the network and Roger seemed to be able to be present for the last rites of auto trains and last members of locomotive classes. Many of the slides were of the railway societies specials commemorating line closures or final locomotive class runs. Of particular interest to the branch members were the slides of the "jubilees" on the Bradford - Poole services. Our thanks to Roger for the excellent evening of nostalgia provided by the wide variety of subjects and locations shown which brought back many memories to the members of the audience.

Monday 26th October 2009
Year by Year from 1961
John Whiteley

John Whiteley visited the branch on the 26th October to deliver his slide presentation entitled "Year by Year from 1961". Each year was represented by 6 slides and from 1961 were in black and white until 1966 when John was able to switch to colour. The early slides showed mainly the pacific classes then in service but after mainline steam finished in 1968, John then spread his wings to follow working steam locomotives to various parts of Europe. After these ceased, the subsequent years were a mix of preserved lines, main line steam specials and trips to Europe and America to record the then current scenes relevant to the year. Our thanks to John for the excellent slides shown not only in quality but in their wide variation in content. As John was well known to many members of the audience, there was much good humoured banter to enliven the evening. Surely not all ex GWR locomotives are assisted at the rear of the train?.

Monday 12th October 2009
Out and About in the Past Year
Hugh Gould

The Society President Hugh Gould made a welcome return to Sheffield on the 12th October to appraise the audience on his travels in the past year. After apologising for his "snaps", he then proceeded to take the audience on a grand tour of England, Scotland and Wales with quick forays to France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Luxembourg. The latter was an insight into the current scene on the near Continent for those not fortunate to get there. The commentary to the slides was informative, interesting and frequently humorous. Once again Hugh provided an excellent evening's entertainment greatly appreciated by all present.

Our thanks to Hugh for managing to fit us in as part of one of his travelling excursions.

Monday 28th September 2009
An Audience with Dick Hardy

The enforced change of meeting place did not deter the large audience of members, visitors and guests from attending "An Audience with Dick Hardy". They were not disappointed as Dick quickly outlined his railway career before launching into a question and answer session. These were many and varied and Dick dealt with them in his usual competent manner with several anecdotes and personal stories concerning the wide range of characters met in his varied career. His recollection of these incidents remains undimmed and when recalled it seems like only yesterday that the audience was there living them with him. The branch consider themselves lucky to have been able to meet and listen to Dick again as they enjoyed a wonderful evening of railway history and personal nostalgia. Our many thanks to Dick for undertaking the journey to Sheffield to delight the rapt audience.

Monday 14th September 2009
Your 15 Slides of Yesteryear

The first meeting of the 2009/10 session was held earlier in the month than previous on the 14th September when members were requested to bring 15 slides significant to them and explain why. There were eight contributors who were in batting order, Mike Brownhill, Keith Marshall, Stan Chandler, Les Nixon, Stephen Gay, Alan Lovecy, David Munday and Phillip Reynolds. The subject matter was varied and covered large parts of the country and many types of traction from the 1950's to the present day. The majority of the reasons for the selections were nostalgic, ranging from shed visits, special holidays, rail tours, and once only events. Our many thanks to all the contributors for sharing their memories and associated anecdotes. The fears of the committee that there would be few takers or much overlap of subjects was fortunately not realised. This enabled the chairman to remark on the sheer diversity of the slides shown and that several gems had been unearthed.