13th September 2022: Remembering the end of Southern Steam – a personal view 50 years later

Our 21st season started on 13th September with our monthly evening meeting in Croydon, when Des Shepherd presented ‘Remembering the End of Southern Steam – a Personal View 50 Years Later’. In 1966 & ‘67 Des was busy taking photographs of steam in its final years, mainly in the Southern area, then 50 years later he visited the same areas to recreate the same pictures, to see what had changed. Sometimes, little had, but in many cases railway facilities had been replaced by car parks, or changed completely, such as Nine Elms MPD, now Covent Garden Market. Des started at Waterloo with Southern steam ‘before and after’ with 34018 Braunton. We then went to Wareham, Swanage, Bridport, and Yeovil, and on various rail tours with his father and friends. Going to the Isle of Wight and a holiday in Bournemouth, during which he preferred trains rather than the beach, which brought photos of Bournemouth Central, Eastleigh, Guildford, Woking and Basingstoke. Another rail tour took in Crewe South and Loughborough and then via Nine Elms. So having started at Waterloo it was there that we finished. A very enjoyable evening, full of interest, thank you Des.