May 2010

Frank Cronin– “A Foreign Steam Miscellany” – May 4th 2010

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.

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