Not So Much a Hobby, More A Way of Life

Physical meeting at Shenfield Parish Hall which will also be available on Zoom as a Hybrid Meeting.

Jim grew up in Stepney Green and his love of railways started when his father took him to Kings Cross to ‘watch the trains’. He remembers seeing A3 Pacifics ‘Pretty Polly’ and ‘Blair Athol’. The latter painted in early British Railways express passenger blue at the time, made an  impressive start from Platform 10, with her six big driving wheels slipping violently on the wet, greasy rails. Living in East London meant that he was within easy reach of all the main London Termini. His favourite was the ‘old’ Euston and its Princess Royal Pacifics. He joined British Rail on leaving school. With the decline of steam and having little interest in modern traction he developed and interest in passenger stations particularly the wonderfully oversized buildings on the North London Railway which led to Jim founding the North London Railway Historical Society in 1989 of which he is currently the chairman.

Jim’s talk looks at railway enthusiasm, largely in the twentieth century, and includes many of the items which were produced for enthusiasts and budding enthusiasts over the years. These include books, magazines, models, jigsaw puzzles and gramophone records, along with the expensive O-Gauge models offered by Bassett Lowke tantalisingly displayed in their Hoburn showroom. No doubt there will also be a fair selection of contemporary images of locos, trains and stations too.