That Was the Year That Was – 1974, by Geoff Plumb, 5th July 2022

5th July 2022 Meeting

For our last meeting of the season on 5th July we had our regular July speaker, Watford Branch Chairman Geoff Plumb with another in his series of ‘THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS’ this time being 1974.

Geoff started with Kensington Olympia with its semaphore signals and four through roads and we had a shot of a Class 52 ‘Western’ hauled special with the last two carriages being an ex-Great Western saloon and an even more wonderful ex-Great Eastern balconied saloon coach No. 1. On a day out to Paignton we saw 7827 Lydham Manor at both ends of the line. That was it for England for this year and we now go to West Germany from 22nd April to 3rd May with three friends in his trusty VW Beetle crossing from Dover to Ostend and the first steam they saw was 012 Class 4-6-2 at Salzbergen. Various locations were seen including depots visited at Rheine and Emden with a DM5 fee paid in ‘Zimmer Funf’ leaving them free to do as they pleased. Over the holiday many classes were seen, including 012, 023, 042, 043, 044, 051, 052, a Deutz type 0-6-0DM, a Prussian T16 0-10-0T, a Prussian P8 4-6-0, the highlight being  ex-DR Prussian G8 2-8-0 of 1929 vintage. Among the towns were Rheine, Lathen, Emden, Aschendorf, Dörpen, Alsdorf, Lebach, and the Black Forest area.

Another visit was made to West and East Germany and Poland from 22nd June to 6th July, this time driving a friend’s Morris Minor Shooting Brake; mainly camping and keeping a wary eye open for police or army presence and moving quickly about. A class 65 2-8-4T near Stadtilm, a DR 01.5 Class 4-6-2 near Neustadt, near Zwickau a rare Prussian G12 2-10-0.

PKP (Polish State Railways) 2-8-2 No. Pt31-13 hard at work on the gradient near Krasnik with a passenger train from Lublin to Przeworsk, Monday 1st July 1974. The train consists of a baggage van, a set of four articulated double-deck coaches and two bogie coaches. Image Credit: Geoff Plumb

Many locations were visited, including some where only a single shot could be taken, and a vast variety of locomotives were photographed. All photos were taken in rural locations away from ‘strategic’ areas and we saw locos of classes Ok1 (ex-Prussian P8 4-6-0s), Ok22 (rebuilt P8s), Ol49 2-6-2s, Pt31 and Pt47 2-8-2s, OKl27 2-6-2Ts, TKt48 2-8-2Ts, OKo1 4-6-4T (ex-Prussian T18), a Pm2 4-6-2 (ex-DR Class 03) and several varieties of 2-10-0s on both passenger and freight turns, also a class Tr203 2-8-0 (USATC Class S160). Some lovely sunny days though there was also lots of rain, but a good time was had by all.

An attendance of 20, our best since reverting to live meetings, enjoyed an entertaining evening with much humour.

Rob Davidson, Watford Branch Secretary