25 November 2020 · Diesels and Electrics in the South East 1950s – 1970s

Presenter: David Brown

David presented a very special collection of images depicting scenes from the middle of the last century in and around the South East of England. The first half of the presentation concerned electric traction and depicted, not only trains of the Southern Railway and London Underground, but also electric trains out of Euston and Liverpool Street. These included images of the early days of the AL6 West Coast Locomotives.

The second half of David’s presentation covered diesel traction and we were treated to images of the Southern Railway 1Co-Co1 pioneers, as well as many images of the DMU’s seen at that time.

For the reviewer, highlights of the presentation were images of the Bullied Electric Locomotives 20001 – 3 and several of the Metropolitan Vickers locomotives of London Transport. Seeing these latter hauling mixed goods trains was a first for the reviewer.

All the images showed working scenes taken by notable railway photographers from that era. As such they conveyed a very real feel of the period covered. Many of David’s images were previously unpublished and it was a considerable privilege to be allowed to see them.