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September 2011

Arthur Turner- The Southern around Nationalisation, 6th September

Colour Slides from the very early years of colour photography featured in Arthur’s show depicting the Southern Railway’s steam locos between the late 1930s and early 1960s.

Arthur used Colourail slides, mixed together with a collection he had acquired some years ago, to portray the Southern Railway locomotives during these years. Many depicted freshly painted locomotives on depots or workshops, in clear well lit, front- three quarter views which could have been official publicity photos.  Arthur explained the limited capabilities of early colour film in those days which was largely only capable of capturing trains at rest or moving slowly.

Watching the show, one could be forgiven if they forgot the part which the Southern Electric Multiple Units increasingly played over during this period- in fact, quite strangely, not one was shown or mentioned during the programme. But we did have an alphabet of Southern Steam locomotive classes, as Arthur depicted each of the SR’s locomotive types, referred to in turn by their class letter classification. Many often overlooked or less- well known classes were shown, along with more familiar classic shots of Bulleids on theBournemouth or Devon Belle, including some in the early BR experimental deep blue livery.

Views on London depots such as Nine Elms and Feltham contrasted with country views on theIsle of Wight, Weymouth tramway, and LymingtonHarbour branch as Arthur used the pictures to relive a journey which he took in the late 1940’s.

It was hard to realise that some of these excellent colour pictures had been taken nearly 75 years ago in the days just before the Second World War.
We thank Arthur for sharing his fascinating collection of early colour slides with us

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