Well, should I be offering you all commiseration’s or congratulating myself, as the newsletter has reached double figures? Yes, first issue was written in Spring 1998, how time flies? Anyway, please read on where you will find the usual meeting reviews, up to date information about the N.Y.M.R and any other railway bits and pieces I can find.

The first meeting of the New Year was the conclusion, by the chairman, of his lecture on the Scarborough & Whitby Railway. Robin began where he left off last year, at Robin Hoods Bay and immediately delved into the history of the narrow gauge railway there. This was used to transport stone from the quarry down to the railway then on to other destinations. The speaker continued with his story; heading towards Whitby where much time and discussion was spent on the viaduct at Larpool, which was a construction site of considerable size, gave many headaches. The biggest of these was the sinking sand within the river, which in turn produced the problem of obtaining solid foundations on which to build the viaduct. It is said the structure weighs over 25,000 tons and contains over 5 million bricks, quite an undertaking when one considers the lack of mechanical aids at the time of building.

Colin Foster in his first meeting as the new Vice-Chairman gave the vote of thanks.

January the 19^th was the date chosen by Dave Mclean to give his slide show, which had to be postponed from the Autumn of 2000. The basis of his lecture was four decades of railways and he started in the 1960s when steam was in decline and the diesel era in it’s infancy. Many of us are aware of Dave’s extensive railway knowledge but often his talent, as a superb photographer is not always recognised; many of the photos shown were technically brilliant. Time again was the enemy and instead of completing all four decades Dave only managed to get to the end of 1970, the good news is he will return in the future with 1980 and 1990. That will certainly be a meeting not to be missed!

The first meeting in February was totally different to anything we have ever seen, Peter Holden, who is the secretary of the Bradford Railway Circle, gave a slide show and every picture had been taken at night. One might think that it would get monotonous but nothing could be further from the truth.

His photography was superb and choice of slides proved most interesting, many of the images had been taken in the middle of the night, which lends itself to very successful ‘no heads in the way’ pictures! The Vice-Chairman opened the meeting and Steve Campleman kindly gave the vote of thanks.

The meeting of March 2^nd was altered from the original program as Chris Davis who was to have spoken in April had a problem with that date. Dave & Stuart kindly agreed to exchange dates, so their talk on "Southern Electrics" will now be on 27^th April. So, what was "Somewhere West of Denver " all about? Well it was a slide show that illustrated the wilder side of the American Desert and how remote it could be even a short distance from a large town such as Reno. Every slide had undergone meticulous composition and the execution was just as good, which made for some superb images. The majority of pictures featured freight trains, some of enormous length and requiring up to 7 locos, some a lot shorter and on trip working. I realise that foreign railways are not everybody’s cup of tea but it does add a little variety into the S.R.S. program and when we get a speaker of Chris’s calibre, its very very good.

The final meeting review in this newsletter is on Roger Barker’s lecture titled

"Living with a Legend" which I must admit was my idea. When I asked Roger to visit the S.R.S. he could not give me a title for his talk and said " make one up", so I did! This talk created a lot of interest both in and out of the society, we even had two visitors from Wakefield who had seen the meeting advertised in "Steam Railway" and rang up to see if they would be able to participate. That is the sort of enthusiasm that this loco creates and to me emphasises the interest, which is shown when ever, and wherever it is running. With every seat in the room taken Roger began by speaking about the early days of his involvement with S.N.G. and how by chance he became the custodian of such a famous engine. Now 24 years later, his enthusiasm is still as strong as ever, which was certainly evident by the way he spoke about the loco. Melvin Haigh who is the Education officer for the A4 Society then showed a selection of slides, which were taken in 1984 when 60007 was undergoing a major overhaul. These pictures really illustrated how much work is involved in an undertaking of this magnitude; the sheer size of the frames when laid bare was awesome. Finally, Roger informed the audience that the loco’s boiler certificate expires in August this year when S.N.G. will be withdrawn and another major overhaul will begin. This will be done at Grosmont so everybody will, by going up to the Viewing Gallery in the Shed Shop, be able to keep up with the progress of this overhaul as it happens. A very interesting and enjoyable meeting which ended with a promise from the speaker to return in the not too distant future with another lecture about this magic loco! 

The railway opened for the season a week later than advertised which was due to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease and because of this problem is not at all busy.

Pullman Car No 79 has had a repaint and looks very good, a credit to the painter in

C & W. The Wagon Group has been busy since Christmas restoring an old MOD Box Van, which in due course is going on display at the south end of Pickering Station. On the loco front 75014 has had a new coat of paint and is returning to the N.Y.M.R for the season very shortly. As already mentioned 60007 will be withdrawn from traffic for overhaul sometime in July so if you want any pictures of it in its present livery, you have about 4 months in which to get them. Finally the Diesel Gala has been moved from the end of October to the last weekend in April in the hope the weather may prove to be kinder and the coaches a little warmer. How the present restrictions will affect this, as yet nobody knows? Visiting locos that hopefully will participate are D1023, D8000, 33021 and 55019. These are in addition to the resident fleet of diesel locos.

The committee will be meeting shortly to finalise the society’s summer program so if any member has a suggestion for something different then please inform a committee member. I would imagine that Gilling will be a possibility and if it is we have another loco from within the society, which hopefully will be in attendance. Trevor Fowler is the proud owner of a Class 37, which is in Regional Railways livery and is worth the drive to Gilling just to have a ride behind that. The Spring Gala at this popular venue will be held on May 19-20th (Foot & Mouth permitting) and for anybody who hasn’t been to one of these, you don’t know what you’re missing. As well as many volunteers and staff from the N.Y.M.R. there is always a good attendance from the members of the S.R.S. This event always produces some of the finest hand built 5in gauge locos one could wish to see and with the friendly atmosphere it makes for a very pleasant day out!

Finally the Winter Program is all but finalised and if my plans come to fruition, amongst others we shall have a speaker who is well known throughout the world of railways and will provide another fascinating talk about the hobby we all love. Like a clue? Well, he lives in Skipton and is on the panel of judges who task it every year to chose the "Best Station in Britain" award. Think of an author who writes about safety and disasters!

After this newsletter was published it has sadly come to my notice that the May Gala at Gilling has had to be cancelled, this I would imagine is due to the ongoing problems with Foot & Mouth Disease.