Meeting Reports 2010

The advertised Speaker was Peter Triggs from Taunton but unfortunately he had succumbed to the ‘flu, which, coupled with the very inclement weather made getting a replacement Speaker at barely 24 hours notice almost impossible.

In order not to disappoint the members who did brave the weather, Chairman Lionel Jones and Communications Officer Ian Chancellor collaborated to put on a ‘show of two halves’.

Lionel’s part was a show of just under an hour that he gives to Groups around the town such as WI and Probus. Titled a History of the West Somerset Railway, it neatly followed on from Ian Coleby’s presentation in December. Starting as Ian did with the first advert in the Taunton Courier it went beyond the closure of the line in 1971 to the birth and growth of the Preserved or Heritage Line that we know today. Lionel’s show concluded with a brief look at the family tree of the descendants of first Chairman, Sir Peregrine Acland, to his Great Granddaughter who is the current President of the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust and Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for Somerset – Lady Elizabeth Gass.

For the second half of the evening, Ian Chancellor provided selection of images in the digital format – a fairly new medium for one of his presentations. Most of the images were taken within the last year at locations in the Bristol/Somerset areas. Shots of the new-build A1 Steam Locomotive ‘Tornado’ taken on the WSR together with others taken during last year’s Galas featured although the majority were of modern traction classes including the latest addition to the Railway scene, Class 70’s taken at Bristol Parkway last month. Our thanks to Lionel and Ian for ‘filling the gap’ at such short notice

February 2nd 2010 – Ian Chancellor
In his usual February slot and under the title 'Arrivals and Departures' Ian gave a slide presentation largely covering the last 30 years around these islands.

In line with the recent winter weather Ian began by showing scenes from previous snowy interludes over the last thirty years, but mostly from the winter of 1981/2. Apart from the inevitable delays both then and now the most noticeable change was that of the liveries and the infrastructure. We were reminded of HSTs in their early liveries which contrast with today's privatised schemes. First generation DMUs and long withdrawn diesel locos also featured in the programme.

More recent developments were also featured, such as the arrival on a regular basis of some 250 Class 66 locos at Newport Docks on delivery from North America, including shots of the locos in the hold of the ship before unloading and delivery to various freight operators.

Some notable railtours were recalled, particularly the Pathfinder/ DTG tour to Inverness and the Kyle of Lochalsh in June 2009 using Class 52 “Western Champion”, surely a development not anticipated 30 years ago. In Ireland we were reminded of locomotive hauled trains on main lines on Irish Rail now replaced to a very large extent by DMUs.

This show illustrated the vast number of changes that have taken place during the period covered which in many ways are far more extensive than the changes made as a result of the conversion from steam to diesel and electric traction. As always from Ian this was a most enjoyable and interesting session.

David travelled from Grantham to join us as our March speaker. For those of us with long memories it was a sobering thought that his last visit was more than ten years ago when, as a professional railwayman, David was then at the highest levels of the former BR Property Board.

David explained his lifelong interest in buildings and infrastructure, which had also formed a great deal of his professional career. His presentation was in two parts- firstly giving us an insight into the engineering features and structures which we often take for granted on the railway but are essential. David explained the different types of crossing and in what circumstances they were used – from fully automatic barriers to lightly used accommodation or occupation crossings. Drawing on his professional experience he explained that from the railway’s perspective each one was a potential hazard, inconvenience or maintenance cost, and should an opportunity arise to reduce the number or replace two with one then that was gladly accepted!

The way in which the railways have changed over the last fifty years was illustrated by comparing the number of signal boxes between Paddington and Plymouth over these years- these days well into single figures! Bridges, signals, signal boxes, and other lineside fixtures were also covered.

In the second half of the evening David show a very varied selection of slides taken over the last fifty years, many of which showed how changes here had been mirrored in Eire, albeit much more recently . However, some fascinating views of Irish stations showed how they had largely escaped the trend of the 1970’s -1980’s on BR of demolishing old station buildings and replacing them with inferior “bus shelters”. As a result there were still a variety of old buildings still in use long after less robust structures here had succumbed to vandals or general wear and tear.

This was a slightly different but very enjoyable presentation by David, and it was fascinating to hear his descriptions “from the inside” when working on the railway and responsible for properties and infrastructure.

Ian visited the Society for the first time on April 6th to share with us an excellent selection of slides taken over the last thirty five years. A former science teacher and a volunteer steam loco driver on both the West Somerset and Bluebell Railways, Ian recalled his experiences traveling to a number of major railway celebrations since 1975, largely traveling as part of a locomotive support crew from the Bluebell Railway or with other former SR steam locos.
Ian recalled some personal “inside” stories from the footplate and support crew at Shildon in 1975, and Rainhill in 1980, commemorating the Stockton & Darlington, plus Lancashire & Yorkshire Railways respectively. We saw photos of steam locos and liveries long since lost from the limelight in the respective cavalcades of locos which drew massive crowds from across the country.
As Ian followed on with more recent celebrations, his strong allegiance to Southern locos came through, as did his strong views on different types of locos. His honest but firmly-held personal views on these weren’t always necessarily shared by all present, but it was a fascinating and entertaining account of some of the goings on behind the scenes at these events, in places where the public weren’t able to access.
Our thanks go to Ian for sharing his experiences and slides and we hope he’ll return to entertain us in the future with another show.

Frank took time out from his duties as a volunteer driver on the East Lancs and Severn Valley Railways to share with us some superb photos of working steam locos in South Africa and Germany he had taken over the last forty years.
During that time both countries have undergone major political and social change, and Frank ably conveyed the changes he had found during his visits through his colour slides and accompanying commentary.
Some very different aspects of working steam were shown- large heavy freight locos gathered on shed and out working on the main line in industrial East Germany during the 1970s, seen through his telephoto lens, contrasted with British-built Garrett locos hard at work in the wide open empty plains of South Africa under a cloudless blue sky, and narrow-gauge Mountain steam in the deep snow of a German winter.
A former school teacher, Frank demonstrated his artistic skills in using the so-called “magic hour” of sunlight at the start and end of the day, capturing vivid sunlight and golden glint against a deep blue sky, with towering steam exhaust in freezing temperatures. Frank explained that in South Africa, unlike the UK, the change from sunset to pitch black skies was very sudden – in fact in fifteen minutes rather than an hour- giving very little time for the photographer to capture the changing light conditions.
Frank finished the evening with a return to Germany- this time to the narrow gauge steam-operated lines in the Harz Mountains during the depths of a snowy German winter- quite a contrast.
Frank’s slides provided some memorable scenes in a very entertaining evening and we pass on our thanks to him.

Following the late withdrawal of our planned speaker members welcomed Mike Goodfield to our June meeting and our thanks go to him for standing in at short notice.

Mike gave a black and white digital presentation of shots taken mostly in the 1960s as steam came to an end on BR. Mike took full advantage of his time as a signalman operating in the Filton area in 1968 with shots of early BR diesels and first generation DMUs operating services which certainly brought back memories of the local railway scene 40 years ago and all this before the building of Bristol Parkway!! Other Bristol area shots were shown at Keynsham, Mangotsfield and Bath Green Park.

We were next taken on a tour of the surviving WR sheds including Didcot, Oxford and Banbury showing many classes of GWR and Standard designs. Mike pointed out that steam on WR finished in December 1965 with the exception of Bath Green Park which ceased with the closure of the Somerset & Dorset in March 1966.

Shed scenes from most parts of the network as far north as Inverness and as far south as Weymouth were also shown showing a rich variety of surviving classes before steam finally ended in 1968. The number of locations visited seemed staggering in view of the small number of locations available today. Shots taken on the main lines included the last days of steam on the Southern Region with views at Vauxhall, Basingstoke and Southampton amongst others. Views at locations on the Settle and Carlisle were also included.

This was certainly an evening of nostalgia and it brought back memories of a more gentle age long before the advent of HST’s, Pendolinos and the rest! Our thanks go to Mike for reminding us what things used to be like.

Evening Outing to the Strawberry Line, Avon Valley Country Park, nr Keynsham– July 7th 2010

At our August meeting it’s always good to see a selection of pictures from a number of members who don’t often get the chance to share their pictures with us.
On this occasion, Tim Henwood showed slides from the 1990s and past Open Days, including one at Crewe Electric Depot with an interesting selection of electric locos including Metropolitan Railways `Sarah Siddons’, 73101 in Pullman livery, and a preserved Class 71 electric E5001 painted in overall Southern Green livery. Contrasting with these were a large number of redundant early LM electrics awaiting disposal. Railtours and specials on the main line were also featured, and it all brought home how much has changed in the railway world over the last two decades
John Hunter presented a number of views of preserved steam around the country, whilst Roy Patterson showed slides from the early 1960s.

Mike Kellaway- Marriott provided an interesting historical foreign interlude, followed by Ian Chancellor with digital images of recent Society events and outings. Lionel Jones brought up the rear with a lively but different finale.

Arthur Turner- Central Switzerland’s Railway Wonderland – September 7th 2010

For any rail enthusiast looking to broaden their horizons beyond the UK one of the first major `must visit’ locations is Switzerland, with many different railways of various gauges, histories and types of motive power set in spectacular Alpine scenery. Some railways tunnel through the base of the mountains, whilst others climb to the top using rack railways to overcome adhesion problems. Many are vintage electric railways, although steam remains in daily use on a small number. The main lines, also electric, have a reputation for running like clockwork with excellent timekeeping and reliability.
In this meeting Arthur concentrated on the area between Spiez, Interlaken, and Meiningen, featuring the unforgettable railways heading up the Jungfrau Mountain- at 11, 333 ft Europe’s highest railway station, and the Brunig line. Arthur has visited Switzerland many times over the last twelve years or so, and his slides showed some of the many changes which have taken place in recent years to ownership of some lines, and subsequent changes in livery and the Railway name.
This was excellent photography which made full use of the beautiful Alpine scenery and mountains, backed up, as ever, by Arthur’s encyclopedic knowledge.
All in all a fascinating evening, and equally appealing to those who have visited Switzerland in the past as well as to those who have yet to visit or are contemplating their first trip there.

Don Bishop made a return visit and enthralled the twenty five or so members present with some superb photographs of steam in the landscape. Many pictures were taken on steam charters he had arranged or participated in, with others on heritage railways or the main line, capturing views of steam locomotives in the sun amongst our most attractive countryside.

Don explained how in 1994 he had founded Steam Recreations, to set up and run photographic charters around the country, and in September 2006 his hobbies became his livelihood when he became a full time professional photographer. He has also been closely involved with the West Somerset Railway for 22 years and many of his digital images showed scenes on the WSR.
In addition to pictures of railways Don showed some fascinating views of a photographic charter with a difference, held on a farm in East Anglia using historic belt-driven farming equipment powered by steam traction engines, operated by farm employees in period clothing, re-creating tableaux of the days when steam was key to agriculture. Very effective.
All in all an evening of beautiful digital photography executed with technical precision and attention to detail, which had no doubt been a key part of Don becoming an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society in 2006.

November 2010

Annual General Meeting & Quiz, 2nd November 2010

23 members gathered on Tuesday 2nd November 2010 for the Society Annual General Meeting.
Chairman Lionel Jones welcomed members and through his report briefly recalled the main events of the last year which set the context for our interest.
For the Society it had been another very successful year: membership had increased, our annual outing, this year to the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway, Big Pit Museum, and Brecon Mountain Railway had been a fully booked 53 seat coach and a great success. The evening outing to the Strawberry Line Miniature Railway, in the Avon Valley Country Park had been a very enjoyable `hands on’ evening, and as with the day outing, in glorious weather.
The Society website had overcome a few technical hitches with the host thanks to the efforts of John Mayhew and the monthly e-mail alert had continued to prove popular. This all gave the Society a firm and positive base on which to go forward.
The Chairman thanked Committee members for their work throughout the year, and members for their continued support.
Following the Chairman’s report, Committee Post holders each gave their individual; more detailed reports and took questions from members.
It was recommended and accepted that the Society subscription should remain at the previous year’s reduced level of £8 per annum.
The new programme of meetings for 2011 was outlined for members, and the Committee announced that the proposed Annual outing in 2011 should be on Sunday 26th June and visit the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton Road, and Pendon Museum and Model Railway.
Committee members were all re-elected and Tim Henwood also welcomed back onto the committee.
In addition to this update full minutes were taken of the meeting by the Secretary and will be produced in due course. In the meantime this not should be taken as a formal account of what took place.
As has now become customary, the AGM was followed, after the interval, by an informal quiz “Location, location, location”, where Lionel Jones showed twenty four current day digital images, largely on preserved or heritage railways and members had to guess where they were taken. The pictures ranged from some very familiar station scenes to some more challenging views! Ian Chancellor emerged as the winner.

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December 2010

Terry Temlett – Evercreech to Burnham on Sea -7th December
Terry had given his popular shows on the S&D to several local Societies, but this was his first visit to the WSMRS.

Terry, who used to live in Burnham before moving to the Weston area, gave a very entertaining account, with many personal recollections and anecdotes about this part of the former S&D. His photos and slides of many familiar scenes and locations were really brought to life by his commentary. A variety of shed and station views brought home the importance in those days of Evercreech and Highbridge as railway junctions, and recalled the Railway Companies’ former grandiose plans westwards beyond the railway’s end at Burnham on Sea.

All in all a very enjoyable way to draw the Society year to a close, and our thanks go to Terry for entertaining us during the evening.

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