British Rail 1966 to 1978 – From Steam to InterCity 125

Presenter: Mervyn Rogers

Meeting Held at Shenfield Parish Hall

Branch member Mervyn was still at school when he started photographing trains. Naturally this at first determined where he could carry out his hobby, so many of his efforts were recorded near his homes in the west Midlands, Hampshire and the Thames Valley. Fortunately for the historical record, Mervyn was assiduous in capturing images at this very transitional time (1966-7) and managed to also travel away from home to pursue the dwindling steam fleet. He was of course constrained by the technology available to him – black & white and fairly slow film and camera. Added to this, the weather, often unseasonal, limited the light available. Nevertheless, he learnt quickly and moved from the traditional front-three quarters views to some more artistic compositions. The interest for us though derives mainly from the subject matter – the record of disappearing classes, a nice photo is a bonus. Apart from some pictures of service trains, most of Mervyn’s shots were in sheds and latterly, scrap yards and it was an interesting reminder to note the relaxed attitude of the workforce, especially supervisory, to the unauthorised visits of our speaker and fellow shed-bashers.

The second part of the evening focused on diesel and electric traction up to 1978; many of these were in colour. He had, by virtue of his status as a management trainee, additional access to places not available to every enthusiast, such as cab-rides in Deltics. Mervyn took us through the early schemes and pilot era diesels and their perverse celebrity, as they too took their place in the scrapyard of history. The anecdotal commentary accompanying some 240 images in total provided an informative and entertaining presentation for members and guests.