Rhys Jones. Steam in Scotland
MEETING REPORT 11th MARCH 2025
Our March evening meeting clashed with a football match at nearby Bramall Lane meaning a busier than usual car park, and at least towards the start of the meeting a lot of football fans inside our venue at the Farm Road Sports & Social Club. However, these very soon made their way to the match as our meeting got underway, and what a treat those who had braved the heavier than usual traffic were in for. Rhys, presenting his first show for RCTS Sheffield, showed a mix of his own photos and those from the collection of the late Dave Marriot that he had acquired some year ago. These, he correctly said, were certainly “too good to be left in a box”. So he has spent a considerable amount of time scanning the slides, most of which were of very high quality.
Photos dated back to 1955, and there were many depot and lineside pictures from the late 1950s and 1960s, interspersed with more recent images of steam railtours, including the Jacobite, in Scotland. Some of Rhys’s own pictures from shed bash trips when on an All Line Rover in 1965 and 1966 were also included. Starting on the Royal Border Bridge we had a tour of Scotland, highlights in the first half included railtours on the newly opened Borders Railway, stunning views from the Forth Bridge and Fife Circle line and the Aberdeen-Inverness route.
The best was to come after the break when we headed north on the Highland Main Line and then onto the Far North, including a rare photo of the short branch line to the delightfully named “The Mound” station and then all the way up to Wick and Thurso. Next we moved to the Kyle line followed by the West Highland out of Mallaig and then south towards Glasgow. Finally, we dropped down to Ayr with a fantastic shot of Sentinel Loco 47182 then south to Carlisle via the G&SW before covering the West Coast Main Line in the Beattock area. A fascinating mix of material from 70 years ago and of more recent steam excursions in Scotland!