Remembering my Lines

For our February Meeting we welcomed back Colin Brading who gave a presentation titled “ Remembering my Lines”. The use of the word “lines” referred to lines in a poem by R.P. Lister and also railway lines based on Colin’s career. The talk opened with a reading of a R P Lister poem with illustrations of Railway Locomotives, Liveries and Coaches to coincide with the lines in the poem. This was followed by recollections of the Metropolitan Line and the end of Steam on the Main Line and early attempts with Black and white photos. We then followed his career starting as a Student Apprentice as a Civil Engineer for British Railways eventually concentrating on Railway track. There was much local interest as he was based Western Towers in Reading. This was at the time when the track speeds were increased to allow the introduction of HST’s such at the remodeling of the main lines through Twyford Station. During this period he was able to photograph the final locomotive hauled trains from lineside. It was interesting to see the work carried out on improvements to track maintenance including ballast cleaning which doesn’t seem to happen anymore. The latter part of his career was spent in consulting which involved work home and overseas in countries such as France, Poland and Japan.

During the presentation we followed his life as a Railway Enthusiast and his favorite preserved lines. He has followed the IOW railways since his early child hood and eventually has been able to purchase one of the nameplates from the O2 Class Loco “Brading”.  The latter part of the presentation was illustrated by many images taken on Photo Charters on the preserved lines mainly in the UK but also in South Africa in outstanding scenery. There were also interesting night shots of the Railway Museum at York. The final topic mentioned was “Rail 200” and what opportunities this will present. Thanks to Colin for a very interesting presentation covering both changes on the main lines and also images on our preserved standard and narrow gauge railways.