Railway Miscellany

The March meeting was a presentation by Tony Storey with the title “Railway Miscellany” in which he visited a number of heritage railways. The first part of the talk surveyed the scene in the 1970s, whilst the second illustrated scenes from2023.

The first line visited in the 1970s was The Bluebell Railway with locomotives such as USA 30064, Adams radial tank 30583, U class 1618, and 21C123 Blackmore Vale were seen. We then visited Didcot Railway Centre to see Castles,Manors, 5600 and 6100 tank locomotives. Our next port of call was the Nene Valley Railway with an assortment of continental steam locomotives, the Southern Electric Group’s 4 Cor unit 3142, S15 30841, and Battle of Britain 34081 92 Squadron. A trip to Quainton Road showed 34016 Bodminand Standard Class 4 76017 undergoing restoration, as well as Beattie well tank 30585, and Swanscombe in use. Our attention then turned to the Severn Valley Railway and locomotives such as 600 Gordon, LMS 8F 8233, Standard tank 80079, and 70000 Britannia were in use alongside a variety of Great Western locomotives. The final location before the break was the Vale of Rheidol Railway.

A visit was made to the Vale of Rheidol Railway again in 2023 where Garrett Drakensberg had joined numbers 7, 8, and 9. The Watercress Line steam galas of 2023 with visiting locomotives were illustrated, as well as well as resident stock. Mainline steam featured 60103 Flying Scotsman and 61306 Mayflower in the Chichester area. Finally, another visit was made to the Bluebell Railway.

Our thanks to Tony for showing early days of railway preservation and what is on offer today.