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Thursday 27 November 2008 - Committee Says NO

Graham Hardinge - summarised by Chris Hurricks

After the AGM we were entertained by our Vice President with a talk intriguingly entitled 'The Committee says NO', a reference to the view of the ITS Committee in 1973 with regard to the running of Society trips to loco sheds and other railway installations. The talk was most appropriate in this our 50th year as it dealt with ITS railway trips from 1974 to 2000, a period which saw some very interesting, extensive and indeed stimulating tours.

The ITS had, for 10 years from 1958 to 1968, run many trips to steam depots but the end of the BR steam age saw a huge decline in interest in the railway. But cometh the diesel, cometh the man so to speak and by 1973 Graham sensed that a new generation of railway enthusiasts (plus a few conversions from steam!) would welcome visits to diesel depots and stabling points. However the 'Committee said NO' to reactivating this type of excursion due to a perceived lack of demand. A proposal to run a minibus trip in 1974 was made but did not attract sufficient support. However Graham persuaded the Committee to have another go and on 4/10/75 there was a coach trip to London visiting Stratford, Cricklewood, Willesden and Finsbury Park depots. At least that was the 'official' list but in time honoured tradition Old Oak Common was bunked and a total of 240 locos were seen in the day. The vehicle used was a Bickers 'N' registered coach driven by Eric Mouser and 18 members took part in a 13 hour day. The coach hire cost £25 and a profit of £2.85 was made on the trip.

From this modest beginning things really got moving under Graham's leadership and up to year 2000 he had organized 47 such trips, 19 of which used trains for the main haul. Destinations ranged all over England and Wales and there was even one of the 'steam type' overnight coach trips on 22/8/76 which set off at 0030 and returned at 2230 having visited the Birmingham and Shrewsbury areas. Crewe Works were also on the itinerary but owing to a strike there the Severn Valley Railway was substituted at short notice. Some of the coaches used became almost celebrities in their own right, particularly Bickers 750 DCD, a 1963 built Harrington bodied Leyland Leopard. Likewise the coach drivers, with various well known members carrying out this task - Eric Mouser, HNJ and master navigator Gerry Calver, who drove some of Galloways finest, and more recently Stephen Cobb with some of IB's vehicles come to mind.

Some of the so called 'day trips' were real marathons with many 17 or 18 hour days with mileages to match, the greatest in distance being a 17 hour epic to the Newcastle area on 9/6/85 when 700 miles were covered. A feature of this trip was the deflation of the suspension at Tyne Yard in order to get under a low bridge, Gerry Calver at his best. The rail trips were no less interesting and initially utilized the well known Merrymaker specials until their demise in 1982. A coach would be hired at the destination or at an intermediate calling point for visits to depots in the area. Graham records that John Day was re-recruited to the ITS on a rail trip to Carnforth on 10/6/78 whilst Cliff Wraite (ex Met Police Inspector and arch psychologist, most useful for gaining entry to depots where no permit was held!) made his first trip with the ITS on 4/10/80 whilst more sadly HNJ's last recorded trip was to Carlisle on 13/3/93 when 46229 worked over the S & C.

On a few occasions Ipswich station staff, the late Mick Worrell and present day member Alastair Barham, were most helpful in arranging special stops to assist the shed bashing itineraries. Notable trips were the Deltic Farewell of 12/12/81 from Norwich to York, the coldest recorded December day for many years when a heating failure caused ice to form inside the coaches and the ITS Silver Jubilee excursion on 29/10/83 commemorating our first trip to the Nottingham area in 1958, since repeated in 2008 of course. The last real shed bash was on 4/7/87 when Gerry C and Robin drove Galloway’s Bova 5516 to the Birmingham and Crewe areas. By this time virtually all the diesel and electric locos on BR had been seen and with the general replacement of locos by multiple units and the lack of permits this type of trip came to an end. Steam was not forgotten with many preserved lines being visited and there were a couple of trips with main line steam in the early 90's. Whilst around this time two trips were organized by the late Rodney Hood.

In addition to the many official ITS trips there were also 9 other trips of small groups organized by ITS members, some by minibus or private car and some by train. Interestingly two of the latter were Merrymakers to Edinburgh allowing visits to all the Central Belt depots by hire car, Scotland not being covered by the official ITS trips. Graham had gathered together photos of all these trips which Fred Ward had combined into a digital presentation. Most had been taken by GKH but additional material had been provided by Stuart Ray, John Day and John Yelverton to whom grateful thanks were extended. All in all, a wonderful trip down memory lane accompanied by Graham's informative commentary.