3rd September 2021 – Railway Roundabout

Presenter: Brian Arman

We met at our new venue, St Teresa’s Church Hall, Filton.  Thirty-eight members of the Bristol Branch attended the first meeting for over a year.  Brian Arman, Branch Chairman advised us of the sad news of the passing of Roger Newman and Terry Nichols.   A two minutes silence was held followed by a short prayer.

Brian’s’ talk was entitled Railway Roundabout, a tribute to the BBC television series.  It consisted of several topics starting with the Great Western Loco’s especially the prototype Star No 40 and the last Castle 7037.  He also covered the rebuilding of Saint Martin to form the Hall prototype.  Then he moved onto early diesels, including some prototypes.  There were stories relating to the early diesel days – listing both good and bad points.

Then Brian covered Railway posters going back to the late 1800s – some classics such as Skegness was so bracing along with many seaside and historic towns.  The way in which posters have developed and the way their colour progressed from bright and gaudy to the more realistic in later years.

Lastly we were treated to a trip up the East Coast main line and saw several former top link engines, now reduced to parcel and goods trains.  The Greasley and Thompson Pacific’s were all covered ending with the Peppercorns.

It was a most entertaining evening and a rousing round of applause signalled the meetings approval.