25 Years of Derek Cross diesels 1959 -1984

On Thursday 6th November the Milton Keynes Branch welcomed David Cross to give his presentation "25 Years of Derek Cross diesels 1959 -1984", a selection from his father's extensive collection of modern traction images. This really was a "Tardis" evening where one was taken back to scenes fifty or sixty years ago that we remembered from our youth. The quality of the images was mostly outstanding and the odd sub standard image was included because of its historical significance, an example being a shot of the yard at Heysham Harbour in the late 1960s with three locos present in a huge freight yard full of wagons. David explained that start date of the presentation, 1959, was determined by the fact that it was when his father returned to this country having lived in New Zealand, which was where David was born. As many members will be aware Derek Cross took a huge portfolio of steam photos but, as David pointed out, he was not averse to recording the new diesel and electric traction being introduced, including electric and diesel multiple units. Thus, we owe him a debt of gratitude for recording scenes rarely seen these days.

Virtually every image was a classic but just a few that stood out were; Hastings unit No. 1022 emerging from Elmstead Woods Tunnel, a 1959 image of D6101 at Brookmans Park on a Cambridge to Kings Cross buffet car express and a July 1959 view of Southern/BR diesel No. 10203 on a Northampton to Euston local. Along with the locos there was much discussion of the types of pre Nationalisation vintage carriages conveyed in the trains  and wistful looks at many of the 1950s vintage cars caught in the background. All in all a fabulous evening of photographic images.