Railways of the Past Part 2

The January meeting of the Solent Branch on 17 January began with the branch’s annual general meeting. The Committee elected for the coming year were John Godfrey (Chairman), Denis Horsman (Secretary), Peter Ifiold (Treasurer), Dave Doulton (Internet), and John Goodrich (Ordinary Member).

The AGM was followed by Martin Hubbard taking us through his archive collection with Railways of the Past Part 2 which covered the years 1996 to 2012. In this period Martin visited Ireland and the Isle of Man several times. On the British mainland, we were reminded of Class 156s in their original livery at Kyle of Lochalsh in 1996.Eurostar Class 373s at Waterloo’s International platforms, Class 313s on the North London Line in 2002, and the open day held at Eastleigh Works in 2009 Eastleigh Works where a large collection of Bulleid pacifics and other motive power was on display. Preserved railways visited included the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, the Kent and East Sussex Railway, and the West Somerset Railway. Rolling stock that is no longer in use illustrated by Martin included Heathrow Express Class 332,s and Heathrow Connect Class 360/2, and. Class 508s on Merseyrail. Finally, a visit was made to the London Tilbury & Southend lines which enabled Martin to show us the area in which he grew up and where he held his first job in a booking office. Our thanks to Martin for giving us a chance to reminisce on what has changed over the years and to see what has remained constant.