13th December 2022 Branch AGM and Members’ Contributions

Chairman Robert Bartlett OBE opened the Cambridge Branch AGM promptly at 7:30 pm, with notices and no apologies for absence. The minutes of the 2021 AGM were approved, and the Chairman thanked the Branch Officers for their work over the year. Tony Field was welcomed as the Branch Secretary and Jim Crane and Mike Page were thanked for their previous contributions to this role. Reports were received from all the Branch Officers and Michael Smyth was appointed as Fixtures Secretary. Thanks to the Sales Officer’s sterling work over the year the Branch finished with a surplus of £321, without charging an entrance fee.

All Officers were unanimously re-elected and the AGM closed at 7.52pm.

Six presentations were given by Branch Members:

1. The Web Manager gave a tour of the Branch website, showing its functionality and highlighting recent work on the Gallery.
2. Mike Page treated us to a wide-ranging collection of views including Thompson B1 No. 61264 at Manningtree on the ‘North Country Boat Express’ railtour in 2001, a splendid 1965 view of Black 5 45263 at Bilston on the 10.05 (SO) Wolverhampton Low Level to Kingswear, a Norwegian El 12 class triple-unit electric locomotive on iron ore workings at Narvik, the metre gauge Döllnitzbahn carrying standard gauge wagons and finishing on the doorstep with 31127 and 25255 double heading the Fen Drayton sand train at Cambridge.
3. Treasurer Andy Dean showed early 1980s views of his home town, Crewe, including Class 33s on Cardiff workings, an ex-Glasgow area class 303 on a Lime Street stopper, a pair of Class 25s on a sand train from Oakamoor and a variety of diesel and electric traction seen at Crewe at this time. He finished with a remarkable photograph of a fence post at St Ives, Cornwall, made from original Broad Gauge Rail.
4. 2022 was reviewed by Keith Crossley’s travels, featuring the present-day Great Central Railway at Belgrave and Birstall (or Leicester North) and Loughborough (including the wonderful W.H. Smith bookstall on the platform), Crianlarich and the Jacobite from Fort William to Mallaig, the busy platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly and the ‘Rail Live’ Open Day at Long Marston in June, featuring the newly converted 153376 Track Inspection Machine, new brightly-coloured Class 196 West Midlands units, ‘Rail Adventure’ HST power cars 43465/43468, new GBRf Class 69s and a Class 799 Hydrogen Unit.
5. The former East Germany was visited by Michael Smyth with views of the October 1991 ‘Plandampf’ activities around Dresden and Altstadt locomotive depot, including 2-6-2 Class 23s, 2-10-0 Class 52s and a 4-6-2 Class 03 at Bautzen on the Dresden- Görlitz line. Carriage heating steam locomotives (“Heissloks”) were seen at Görlitz shed, as were some of the wonderful small branch line steam sheds around Löbau.
6. The evening concluded with Tony Field entertaining us with movie clips of rotary snow cutters and flangers, clearing many feet of snow on the Donner Pass and Soda Springs areas of the Sierra Nevada Railroad, for the heavy Liner traffic and for Amtrak Train 5, the California Zephyr.

Chairman Robert thanked all contributors to the evening, and to everyone for their support to the Branch over the year. The meeting closed at 10.10 pm.