18th November 2019 · ’24 years of Great Eastern Electrification’

Presenter: John Day

The presentation covered the period just before electrification to the present day to cover the last 25 years of Great Eastern electrification. Although parts of the Great Eastern were electrified years before, John concentrated on the 1980’s extensions to cover the routes to Norwich and later Kings Lynn. Using photographs from his archive, he took us through the changes seen up to the current time, some shots being taken only a few days prior to the meeting. We saw all the various liveries of all the various operators, from BR Inter-City up to the current Greater Anglia, including various temporary liveries applied. Ironically, one of the liveries shown was that of the Dutch railways (NS), who are now part owners of the GA franchise! The freight side was not ignored, with all the various operators being chronicled. Many thanks are due to John for his insight into a set of services in an area of Britain geographically opposite geographically to the branch’s Great Western.