2018 Archive

Bruce showed that despite continuing growth there were no firm plans for improvements or developments to keep pace with the growth resulting in overcrowding and failures in the service that we currently suffer. The government failed to include the necessary improvements in the recently awarded new franchise and South Western Railway was not required to make any significant improvements.

The major problems of lack of track capacity, lack of resilience of the infrastructure, 30 year old trains and insufficient of them was outlined. The Rail Users Group is taking an active role in pressing government, through the local MPs, to commit to the required major improvements. The Group has also joined the West of England Strategy Group, which can pressurise government for improvements but previously had no passenger interest group to input users’ views.

Duncan’s Rail Users group is now pressing strongly, through the contacts they have developed, for more sections of double track to increase the service and provide more resilience when problems occur and for new trains. They also intend to produce a strategy for passenger needs in the next franchise.

More information is available on SERUG's website.

November

Meeting on Wednesday, 21st November 2018

For our November meeting we were treated to a selection of photographs of the long-lamented Somerset & Dorset Railway from the amazing collection created by John Woods.

Our speaker, Mike Beale, explained that John Woods was a keen rail enthusiast who was especially interested in photographing the scenic S&D line. He travelled down from London on his sturdy Lambretta at weekends and ranged along the length of the line from Broadstone to Bath. His photos captured not only the trains but the superb scenery as the line crossed the Mendips on steep climbs.

He was visiting the line regularly during the late 1950s into the 1960s, especially on summer Saturdays. He was able to capture a wide range of the summer through trains to Bournemouth from the Midlands and North that regularly used the line up to 1962. Due to the number of additional trains and the steep gradients through the Mendips a wide range of locomotives was required. Most trains needed two engines for the climb over the Mendips and everything including freight engines were drafted in to help. John Woods recorded the great variety to be seen.

The original S&D line to Burnham-on-Sea, which became a quiet branch line, was not neglected by John Woods, and a good selection of views of both the stations and trains on this line were captured.

After 1962 through trains were diverted away from the S&D, but John Woods continued to record the local services right up until closure in 1966. Prior to closure there were a series of railfan special trains run over the line often with express engines, usually beautifully cleaned for the occasion. In the final months John Woods recorded these and more mundane services at both ends of the line. Included were some photos of Blandford, where goods services continued for some time after the closure of the rest of the line.

October

Our October meeting provided a fascinating insight into all the work needed to re-unite the preserved Swanage Railway to the main line network near Wareham

Dr. Mike Walshaw explained that the Swanage Railway had wishes to re-connect with the mainline for many years. The present limit of operation was at Norden, just outside Corfe Castle from where heritage steam services run to Swanage. The track beyond towards Wareham was disused but was owned by Network Rail. The opportunity to progress the scheme came with Network Rail’s major re-signalling scheme affecting the line from Poole to Wool, including the junction with the former branch line to Swanage.

A scheme was devised for Dorset County Council to purchase the line from Norden to near the junction with the main line. This was then leased for 99 years to the Swanage Railway. Substantial grants were obtained for the work required to be undertaken by Swanage Railway. The existing track was in poor condition and substantial signalling work was required to link with Network Rail systems and to their standards.

The work at Wareham Station and at the junction was undertaken by Network Rail, but renewing track, repairing a slipping embankment, devising signalling and the provision of a new barrier controlled level crossing at Norden was work that Swanage Railway had to undertake.

Because of his technical background Dr Walshaw was able to design the complicated signalling system required to link with Network Rail at their new signalling centre at Basingstoke to allow trains to run to and from the Swanage branch. The fascinating detail of all the work required and the professional way it was completed was described and in 2017 a regular summer service to Wareham was launched with hired in stock and steam specials from elsewhere could run through to the Swanage Railway. 

September

At our September meeting we had the pleasure of the inimitable Peter Triggs to talk about Smoke and Steam over seven decades. 

Peter used slides from his superb collection of railway and related pictures to illustrate his talk. Peter interpreted the title of his talk literally so that he interspersed photos of locomotives with the occasional picture of a smoking factory chimney or steam from a coal powered power station; all very atmospheric of their period.

His range of railway photos ran from some pre-war ones of the Great Western Railway right up to present day shots of steam railway special trains, both on the national network and on preserved lines. The photos were of high quality and showed the steam locomotive in all conditions, ranging from gleaming express locos to very dirty and leaky goods engines. The photos covered both idyllic rural locations and smoky industrial scenes familiar to older members.

The talk concluded with a range of superb atmospheric shots of some of the famous preserved narrow gauge railways, of which Wales is particularly well endowed. These ranged from the early days of preservation to contemporary shots of what are now key tourist attractions running in superb scenery. 

June

We had the pleasure of an evening of Steam Nostalgia with Simon Foote. Simon grew up in South London and was fascinated by the steam trains that were then running, especially out of Waterloo station. He started taking photos as well as train numbers and visited the London terminal stations to see the variety of steam engines then operating both local and express trains. He shared his excitement with steam with some of his early photos.

Showing a photo of the legendary Gresley A4 pacific loco he accompanied the picture with a live sound recording of the loco with its iconic chime whistle. The evening was enlivened with sound recordings of some of the locos that were being shown.

Simon has kept his love of steam alive by visiting many of the preserved lines and also some of the many steam excursions that now operate on the national network. We travelled the country with Simon visiting, amongst other locations, the North Yorks. Railway, West Somerset, Severn Valley and Swanage. Each location was brought alive by the fine recordings of steam trains operating in the lovely countryside traversed by these lines. The sound of a working steam engine pulling hard up the Devon banks with a heavy train fully captured the lure of Steam Nostalgia for us.  

May

TRAC member Steve Lord took us on a trip “Round the Houses”. This was the name local railwaymen gave to the circular route from Manchester Victoria to Rochdale out via Castleton and back via Oldham or vice versa. As a lad from Rochdale, Steve was able to give us a very personal view of steam in the 50s and 60s on this route.

We started with various views of Victoria station through the ages. Built by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway we saw the two parts of the station; the terminal platforms for the “Round the Houses” trains and the Bury electrics, one of the earliest electrifications in this country, and the through platforms for the mainline trains running from Liverpool to various Yorkshire destinations. This section of the station was joined to the Exchange station of the LNWR by the longest platform in the country.

Steve showed the variety of steam passenger and goods trains that passed through Victoria before we embarked on a journey to Rochdale via Castleton. Period photographs showed the line in its final steam years. Many of the stations were very rundown, but there was a wealth of freight and passenger traffic to observe.

Travelling through Middleton Junction, with a short detour on the branch line to a decrepit Middleton station, we travelled though Castleton observing the various signal boxes and goods sidings to reach Rochdale. Having arrived in Rochdale, Steve took us to the town centre on buses of the period for a look round the town centre noting the variety of local bus companies running services there. A nostalgic trip back to Steve’s childhood. 

April

At our April meeting Amyas Crump provided with us with an insight into the late Peter Gray’s amazing life photographing trains from his childhood in 1920s Torquay up to modern times.

Amyas talked about Peter’s life and career and the opportunity provided for his hobby of railway photography from his early days at Newton Abbot to photographing railways across the world, amassing an enormous collection of both black and white and colour photographs. For this evening Amyas had selected a small collection of photographs of mainly branch lines in the South West, with an emphasis on Great Western ones.

We were shown some of Peter’s earliest photos around the Torquay area, with Newton Abbot a favourite spot. Also as a small taste of the wider range of Peter’s photos we were shown pictures taken in Basra during Peter’s National Service of some of the British locos. sent to the Middle East in the Second World War.

For the remainder of the evening we were taken on a delightful tour of country branch lines in Devon and Cornwall. Unusual for his day Peter took many photos showing the trains in the landscape, which were skilled countryside views and spoke of the context of the railway in its environment.

As well as visiting most of the Great Western branch lines in Devon and Cornwall we also visited the Southern’s branches to Lyme Regis, Gunnislake and the Plymouth area. All Peter’s photos captured the context of the trains he pictured and we were provided with an evening of excellent stories of trains in their natural environment.

March

At our March meeting Gerry Nichols took us on a well illustrated tour of many of the former Great Western branch lines in Somerset and Devon.

We started with a trip from the unique branch line from Hemyock, whose main function was to take milk products from the large milk factory in Hemyock to the mainline at Tiverton Junction. Unusually the local trains were mixed trains, that is they consisted of one carriage for passengers and a string of milk tankers all pulled by the small GW tank loco. We followed the train down the line pausing at the attractive local stations serving the villages of the Culm Valley.

Another valley served by an attractive branch line was the Exe Valley line with its connecting routes. We again had a tour admiring the beautiful scenery of the valley and its attractive stations as well as seeing the local trains, which were mainly “auto trains”, where the loco would push one carriage with the driver at the front of the carriage and the fireman on the footplate.

Among many other lines visited were the more important branch lines from Taunton to Minehead and Barnstaple, where, especially in summer, lengthy trains hauled by main line locos appeared. We finished with a visit to the line from Taunton to Chard and Chard Junction. The high quality of the colour photos enabled us to enjoy the glories of the countryside, as well as reviving fond memories of lost branch lines.

February

At our February meeting Douglas Beazer covered two interesting, if contrasting, aspects of railways. He firstly gave, based on personal experiences, a very comprehensive illustrated history of the British Military Train to Berlin. This was established as part of the Potsdam agreement between the allies at the end of the Second World War and ensured that the western allies could run trains through the Russian sector, which became East Germany, to service their troops in West Berlin.

The service ran continuously, apart from the period of the Berlin airlift, until the fall of the Wall and Douglas showed how the service operated and that the carriages used were specially designated as British Army property having diplomatic immunity. The train was hauled by East German locos through East Germany, but the transit was supervised by Russian soldiers, who could sometimes hold up the service for political reasons. Initially the service was hauled by steam and later diesel trains. We saw photos of the train taken in East Germany by a local enthusiast, who would have been in serious trouble if he had been discovered.

After the break Douglas told the story of the British Royal Train from the first use, by a monarch, of a train journey taken by Queen Victoria in 1842 from Slough to London. In 1869 Victoria had two special coaches built for her use when travelling, and was the first carriage to provide a toilet. Subsequently many of the then railway companies set aside special coaches for the monarch’s use.

By BR days a special complete Royal train was available for the monarch and their immediate family. Douglas then described in detail the formation of the present Royal Train, which dates from 1977. It is fully equipped for the Queen and Duke and her immediate entourage, with sleeping facilities. For use overnight the train is usually parked on a quiet stretch of line. Security is important and the train manager is in constant contact with both palace officials and the police on a journey. We were shown inside each carriage and its use explained. 2 extra carriages are added if Prince Charles is also travelling. A fascinating insight into a little known aspect of current railway operations.

January

Due to the last minute sickness of our programmed speaker our own Richard Holt stepped into the breach at exceedingly short notice to provide a fascinating evening’s talk, fully illustrated, on the offshore oil industry and, in particular, his role in moving oil rigs around the oceans.

While no railways appeared the complex engineering and skill in manoeuvring the massive rigs in often turbulent seas and the technology in off-shore drilling provided a very interesting education for members present.