January 13th 2021 · “Railways in South Wales”

Presenter: Robert Mastermann

A record 66 Zoomers from South Wales, and England (welcome all) joined us to for Robert’s “Masterly” presentation of Railway Images in South Wales in the 1960’s and early 70’s, all of which were his own work.

Robert gave us some lovely images of the end of steam in the 1960’s from a time when he lived in Burry Port, Caerphilly and Hengoed. Particularly pleasing for those of us “who were there” were the images of 56 tanks slogging up the Valleys on coal trains.

Robert then moved onto diesels images in the 1960’s which in many ways are similarly iconic. You realise how quickly the railway scene was transformed and how life must have improved for drivers and firemen as they switched to warm, comfortable and easy to drive diesels locos and DMUs (especially in the Valleys covered in snow and freezing cold.) It was also good to remember what real stations used to look like, and to reflect on how so many were vandalised in the 1960’s.

It was a tour de force, and our little band Zoomers were privileged to have witnessed it.

Many thanks to Peter Fortune and Jeremy Segrott for hosting and managing the Zoom technology so efficiently.

Please join us for our next meeting – an update on the rail plans of Transport for Wales : rolling stock, network, new stations and so on. 10 February.