Many of you will know that the committee has been pressing the Library in the hope of acquiring some new and more comfortable seating. Well, at last I have had a letter from the Head Librarian informing me that new chairs have been ordered and if all goes to plan they will be in situ very shortly.

Good News Indeed !

March 30^th saw the return of Glynn Hague (who is Vice-Chairman of the Friends of the Settle and Carlisle Line and lives near Blackpool) who was talking about the Railways in the Peak District. Glynn who is an accomplished photographer showed the audience around many of the more interesting buildings of the towns as well as the railways. This also illustrated how much, in the early days, the railways were integrated with all the major businesses within these towns. One item of particular interest was the illustrated walk through the tunnels between Matlock and Buxton. These are normally closed to the public, but once a year the Park wardens give guided tours through these which as some of you may know, may be re-opened shortly. E.W.S. are looking at plans to relay the track between Buxton and Matlock, which then would then provide a through freight line from London to Carlisle avoiding the W.C.M.L. Freight trains then would not delay the new generation of passenger trains which are scheduled to travel at up to 140-mph.  Finally Glynn showed a selection of slides, many of which he took himself, from the 1960s which illustrated many areas in and around the sheds and yards of York, what memories!      

The next meeting on April 27th found two society members giving a presentation titled “Southern Electrics”.  Stuart Hiscock and Dave Miller put together a superb interpretation of the history of the third rail system on the Southern Region.

This is a vast subject, which has had many developments and much improvements but the speakers covered all the major changes admirably. To many of us `up north` Southern Electrics have always been somewhat of a puzzle, VEPs, LAVs, and CIGs (to quote but three) have always held a certain mystery but all this was swept away with clear and concise explanations of how and why. A very enjoyable and interesting night and one, which I shall remember next time I am stood on Clapham Jct. wondering what on earth I am looking at?

May 11^th was another very successful member’s night, this form of meeting enables many of our member’s photos to be seen, which might not normally be so and provides a very varied and enjoyable evening.  Slides and prints from many different parts of the country were projected, the ever-changing variety providing a constant source of fascination?

 The final meeting in May finished off the Spring Programme in fine style, `Confessions of a Lostock Hall Fireman` narrated by John Fletcher was 90 minutes of pure nostalgia. John joined the railway in the early 1960s as a cleaner at Preston MPD but because at that time footplate staff were in short supply his promotion to firemen soon followed. He showed many pictures in the Lostock Hall area, which helped illustrate the interesting and often amusing incidents which took place in and around around the shed. These photos also gave the audience an insight into the tatty state that most of the steam locos were in, this of course was due to their imminent withdrawal. John’s final picture was of a young lady news reporter who was sat in the driving seat of a Black 5; he asked the audience if anybody recognised her?  As nobody could he gave a clue which was ‘You are the weakest link, Goodbye’ which of course immediately gave the game away. During July 1968 the press had interviewed John and his driver for a newspaper article about the final days of steam and the young reporter from the Manchester paper was Ann Robinson!

To conclude the meeting reports the society held two summer outings, both on the N.Y.M.R. and both very enjoyable. In June the society once again hired the GWR Saloon and as expected all the seats were soon filled. The weather looked very black as we all made our way to Pickering, fortunately things improved and it ended up being a very pleasant evening. To all those members who contributed towards the undoubted success of this evening, in particular - Dave, Stuart, Andrew and Marge from the N.Y.M.R., thank you!

The second summer outing was held in August and was a guided tour around the M.P.D. at Grosmont.  This again was well supported, the assembled party had a leisurely tour around all parts of the shed, beginning with 30825 (ex 30841) work on whose chassis is nearing completion. Alongside the S15 was Black 5 45212, another loco having a complete overhaul and at a guess fairly near to having it’s boiler re-fitted. All wheels were back in the frames, most of the rods were fitted and the cab was being worked upon ready for re uniting with the loco.

In the fabrication shop the party saw 90775 whose boiler had been successfully steamed in July, this in turn had enabled a start to be made on re-fitting the boiler fittings and cladding. Also in this shop was the cab belonging to Class 25 No 7628 which was in the process of having a new floor constructed, this is a very complex job and without the skill of Bob Fussey the diesel fitter, this type of repair could not be contemplated. The tour concluded by visiting the Shed Shop where many railway items are on sale, this is always worth a look in as nearly every day something unusual can be found here.  Our sincere thanks are extended to Alan Worden and Clive Groom of the M.P.D. for their co-operation in organising this visit.

The members of the S.R.S. who work in C & W have recently completed a cosmetic restoration on a 12 ton Box van which by the time you read this will be on display at the south end of Pickering station. This ex MOD van required extensive work on the timber sections, numerous new boards and a complete new door had to be fabricated, it is now masquerading as a N.E. 12ton box van and will be used by the Pickering Station Group as a workshop/ store.  The wagon group has now started work on another box van, which also requires a complete restoration. Progress on the society owned Cattle wagon is slow but sure, much of the recent work has been concentrated on the chassis.

S.N.G. will now remain in traffic until 22 October, which means it will be available for the Autumn Gala along with Blue Peter and the normal pool of locos at the railway.  Another streamlined pacific has been invited for the Autumn steam gala, No. 34081, 92 Squadron has been signed up to appear and is staying until after the Wartime Weekend.  From one extreme to another L&Y Pug 51218 has also been invited, by coincidence this loco, built by Aspinall, is celebrating its 100^th birthday having been built by the L&Y in 1901.

Just a word about some of the speakers who will be gracing the Library this Autumn. I have already mentioned Stan Hall, but the second meeting on the 28th September is a slide presentation with a difference, and a first I think for the society.

Alan Ward uses a medium format camera, which is quite common, these days, but unusually he also has a medium format projector, which is not so common so if you want to see some stunning photography, don’t miss this one. 

Please support the photo competition as the winning entry will be used for the society Christmas Card this year. Entries can be either slides or prints and it does not matter when the photos were taken, so long as they have a Christmas theme. The society has had very good feedback from our card sent out last year, many of our speakers were very impressed so it would be nice to maintain our high standards. As all members present at the meeting will act as judges a fair and impartial result will be achieved.

John Hunt, will on October 26^th, as he has for the last few years, present a slide show covering all parts of the railway system. Many of the slides will be from the numerous articles he has written and researched for the railway press in the year 2000. 

On November 9th Mike Hopkinson, was an early society member, will show slides from his collection spanning 1961 to 1966. In 1961 Mike changed from B & W to colour slides then in 1966 he changed to cine, hence the title `Slide Interlude`

Finally, Mike Bennett who is speaking on November 23rd works for a company which made some of the tunnelling equipment, that was used in the building of the Channel Tunnel. This should be a fascinating look at the construction of this marvel from an insiders  viewpoint.

Looking ahead to the Spring 2002 programme, which by the way is 80% complete, those of you who have an interest in the Pickering Line, Robin is giving the first talk of the year entitled `The Forge Valley Line` 

Adrian  

©Copyright Scarborough Railway Society 2000