Sussex
Meeting Reports
Monday 19th December 2011
Members Memories of 2011 – Slides
Members photo's was the theme for our December meeting with the vast majority dated 2011. We started with Godfrey Gould with photographs from around St Pancras and Ebbsfleet before going abroad to France. Back in England we finished with some shots of the Croydon Tramlink and a 378 at Highbury & Islington. Keith Carter visited most of the country in 2011, starting with a slide form the 40th anniversary of the closure of the Newport IOW to Ryde line, followed by visits to Scotland, a number of narrow gauge railways in Wales and finishing in the Isle of Man. Next up was Mike Hudson, with slides from home and abroad including a picture of the train about to leave the Vatican City station earlier this year. We also saw steam at Scarborough and Glasgow. Les Dench showed us a Class 67 in Wrexham & Shropshire livery at Marylebone, trams in various parts of Germany and the Seaton Tramway, concluding with trams at Blackpool. Paul Snelling started with a Central Line train at Debden, before we saw a class 90 at Euston with a sleeper service. We then saw class 380 and 320 in Scotland, various diesels at Crewe, visits to the Severn Valley and Weardale Railway before finishing at Scarborough. Last but not least Paul Baston showed some digital photos, which included visits to Exbury Gardens, Swanage Railway, Bluebell Railway and the Seaton Tramway, which rounded off an enjoyable evening for all those who attended.
Monday 28th November 2011
Branch AGMs and Photo Competition
The branch held its AGM on 29th November 2011 which was attended by the committee of 2 and 3 other branch members. All the reports were accepted by those present and Chairman Paul Snelling thanked committee member Tim Stamp for all his help in the past, as Tim has now moved away from the area. The committee is now reduced to 2 persons and Paul Snelling was re elected as Chairman and Treasurer and Paul Baston as Secretary, all other posts remain vacant. If any member wishes to join the committee please contact the branch secretary.
After the AGM we met up with the LCGB and had our annual photographic competition, which attracted 68 photos submitted by 6 entrants. The winning photo was adjudged to be Smallbrook Junction in the 1960s, the winner was Les Dench for the second year running, Les was also second and Lawrie Marshall was third (All LCGB). A big thank you goes to all those who submitted pictures.
Monday 24th October 2011
Heading Eastwards (Part II)
John Blackwell
For our October meeting we welcomed back John Blackwell to present Coastway East Part 2. At John’s previous visit we got as far east as Polegate where John restarted our journey. John took us through the various stations at this small town before taking us via Hampden Park into Eastbourne. Having talked about the stations here he spoke briefly about the line onto The Crumbles and also the Eastbourne Electric Tramway, now at Seaton.
We then journeyed east wards as far as Rye where John finished up on the erstwhile Rye and Camber Tramway having also taken in the Bexhill West branch on the way. Throughout our journey John spoke very authoritivly about the stations we passed through. He also pointed out the various building styles, particularly once we got to Bo Peep Junction, where the LBSCR ran onto the South Eastern Railway.
This was an enjoyable evening and we look forward to John’s return next year for a journey along the Coastway West.
Monday 26th September 2011
British Industrial Steam
John Borrowdale
For our first meeting after our summer break we welcomed John Borrowdale in September with his illustrated talk "British Industrial Steam", centered around his visits to NCB sites between 1970 and 1975.
At Snowdon Colliery, Kent, in 1970 we saw three Avonside locomotives St Dunstan, St Martin and St Thomas, followed by a brief visit to Bettshanger. A visit to Mountain Ash, Wales, in 1972 revealed pannier tank 7754 in action, and Maesteg's locomotives were all seen to carry female names. Later that year saw a visit to Backworth Colliery in the North East where we saw NCB Bagnall No.6 and also two Hunslets, No.48 and No.49 of which the latter is now at the Tanfield Railway. We then moved onto Whitehaven where Hunslet Wallspike,complete with mechanical stoker and large bunker, was in action. 1973 saw further visits to South Wales, whilst 1974 saw us return to Backworth where only two locomotives remained at work. The same year produced slides of non- working locomotives in Fifeshire, due to the pits being closed for holidays. Finally in 1975 it was back to Mountain Ash, Cadley Hill near Church Gresley to see NCB 65 and Mangapps Farm with a Bagnall on show.
We thank John for showing us his slides on a subject not seen on a regular basis, and look forward to seeing him in the future.
Monday 27th June 2011
More London Steam
Peter Groom
Peter Groom made a welcome return on 27th June with “More London Steam”. Starting at Kings Cross we moved out via Finsbury Park to Hornsey. Never an exciting shed being more concerned with suburban working but it was a pleasure to see a 9F when nearly new. Peter explained that Hornsey men drove 9F’s on the ECML but they were allocated to New England. We then carried on up the line through Wood Green to New Southgate. On this section Peter showed lineside shots rather than his trademark shed shots.
A quick change of direction took us to Southall, mainly to please the copper capped chimney enthusiast! Then it was on to Feltham where Peter showed and discussed the many classes that worked in and those that were allocated, such as the W and Z classes.
To end the evening Peter took us from Euston up Camden Bank, again with lineside shots, to Camden Shed. This was an evening of pure nostalgia from 1956 to 1963, even including modern traction for the younger members who have no real memories of main line steam. Peter gave detailed explanations not only of the locomotives but also of the workings, allocations, track permits and the working relationships with shed staff. Certainly, a night to remember.
Monday 23rd May 2011
My 50 Years Of Colour Slides Part 1: 1960 - 1970
Les Dench
Due to our booked speaker, Hugh Gould, having to go into hospital, LCGB member Les Dench stepped up to present at our May meeting. Taking as his subject “My 50 Years of Colour Slides – Part 1: 1960 – 1970” we were treated to a splendid evening of high quality slides. Some have been published in books but many had never been seen in public.
Les had promised locations from Abreschviller to Zaragoza and he lived up to it. Some of the slides shown were of railtours organised by both RCTS and LCGB so there was a bit of ribbing in the room. Most came from his travels and those present agreed that a number of slides were taken at locations rarely photographed, such as Willoughby (Lincs). Events such as the opening of the Bluebell Railway, the early years at the Talyllyn Railway and the last day of trams in Sheffield had all been faithfully recorded.
Whilst Les was working for BR he was seconded to the New York office for a 9 month stint in 1963. Travelling out by one of the Cunard Queens (Mary and Elizabeth) and back by the other he spent his spare time on travels with an American Railfans group, which were dutifully recorded. Daily travel was on the “El”, the Elevated Railway for which Les slotted in some shots. Taking his accrued leave at the end of his secondment he travelled by train to Mexico. This period of Les’s career is covered fully by another nights entertainment so this time we saw just a small selection to give a flavour of travelling in this extensive country.
On Les’s return to England he continued to photograph at home and then throughout Europe, something he still does to this day. It was interesting to see the Baie Du Somme Railway as a working railway rather than preserved as today. As well as the many types of trains Les included ships, paddle steamers, trams, trolleybuses and an aeroplane.
This was one of those evenings where these few words cannot do justice to the breadth and quality of the evening. Highly recommended.
Monday 18th April 2011
I Owe! I Owe! It's off to work I go
Ted Vaughan
Our April meeting saw us welcome Ted Vaughan, Solent Branch Secretary, resplendent in his kilt, with his imaginative titled talk “I Owe, I Owe, its off to work I go”, which saw Ted showing us his photos of journeys he made to and from his various work locations from the mid 1960s until his retirement.
We started with Ted's regular train home from London Bridge at the time which comprised double deck units 4001 and 4002 seen at Falconwood. We then saw various shots of Clun Castle hauling the last steam train from Paddington to Banbury in June 1965. Moving to an accountancy firm saw Ted working in the Midlands and here we saw some steam hauled freight at the closed station of Dudley in 1965. Ted then showed various steam and diesel workings in the Leicester and Peterborough areas at a time when he worked for BR. A move back into accountancy took Ted to York in the early 1980's and here we saw Deltics, 47s, 31s and HSTs. Ted then finally moved to the Southampton area in 1983 and near Beaulieu Road we saw 73 002 working the 07.58 Bournemouth to Eastleigh train which at the time was a regular 33 or 73 working. In the Southampton area at the time of the Weymouth Electrification we saw various workings with 4-TC, 5-TC and 8-TC all being seen along with various REP units. This gave rise to a discussion on the unit numbers of the REP class and the various permutations of TC stock! Ted then followed up with a number of diesel hauled freights and passenger workings going to and from the Salisbury Lines.
After Ted's retirement he continued to record the various types of train seen in the area and we saw Virgin Cross Country HSTs, Class 442 EMUs, some steam specials and Class 158 and 170 DMUs. We ended the night’s fine entertainment with some shots of 3 CIG units 1497 and 1498 working the Lymington branch shortly before their retirement.
Monday 28th March 2011
Czechoslovakia
Jeremy Harrison
In March we welcomed fellow RCTS and LCGB member Jeremy Harrison with his slides taken during 4 trips to Czechoslovakia. We started in 1989 when 150 Years of Railways in Czechoslovakia was being celebrated. Jeremy started by showing a variety of diesel and electric engines at various depots in the Prague area. Many of the diesel engines were in a maroon and yellow colour scheme very much like DBS engines in this country today. The celebrations saw a number of steam specials, including some from Austria, plus a parade of various steam, diesel and electric locos, along with some vintage and modern railcars. The parade was rounded out with some interesting civil engineering vehicles.
Moving onto 1992 we were back to Prague and the communist Red Stars that appeared on front of engines had been replaced by the Czech Lion now that the country was no longer under communist rule. Here we saw a number of steam freight and passenger specials which included a number of well staged run pasts.
A third visit to Prague occurred in 1995 where a number of steam charters were seen along with a visit to a test track where a Hong Kong Metro unit was seen being tested.
Jeremy's last visit was in 2001 with a trip to Northern Bohemia where we again saw a number of special steam passenger and freight charters.
We thank Jeremy for an interesting evening and for sharing his slides with us.
Monday 28th February 2011
Western Europe Through the Years
Peter Winchester
On 28th February we welcomed Peter Winchester who gave an illustrated talk about his travels around Western Europe. We started our journey in Belgium with a visit to Ostend in 1970. We then travelled on to Brugge and then to Maldegem to enjoy the locomotives at a festival there. Having visited Leige Peter showed scenes in Antwerp at the time the Central station was being rebuilt, which included the huge hole excavated to accommodate 3 levels of rail tracks and the Metro. We left Belgium after seeing the trams in Brussels quickly going through Luxembourg, Holland and Germany. Onto France and we saw various scenes around Nice where the motorway goes right above the station. We then had a trip on the Nice to Cuneo line which opened in 1928 but was badly damaged during World War 2 and was only fully reopened on 6th October 1979. From Italy we moved onto our final destination , Portugal. This was an interesting evening with a wide ranging selection of slides covering the past 40 years
last updated: 26/12/11