Latest meeting report

Thursday 29th January

BR branch lines in the 50's and 60's (and other forms of transport)

Dave Soggee - summarised by Chris Hurricks

This show had everything! Whilst predominantly rail, we were also treated to some wonderful shots of vintage Thames ferries and buses both in the London area and Ipswich. A large audience of 54 members and visitors (almost a record for recent years) had turned out on a cold January evening to welcome Dave Soggee from Ingatestone on his first visit to us.

The first shot of the GER crest set the scene for many views of the GE in the London area and with Dave having worked at Stratford Works for 15 years he was able to give us chapter and verse about this very complex area including the multiplicity of buildings and their uses. His first colour slides were taken in 1958 so he was in time to capture a lot of working steam at 30A as well as the gradual dieselisation. However the first slides were superbly lit views of the immaculate Liverpool Street pilot N7 69614 and a clean B17 'Clumber' in platform 9 which brought forth gasps of surprise, the first of several during the evening.

The North Woolwich services were featured next with again much steam in evidence and varying locations including the famous Fork Junction with its splitting distants. Stratford Low Level as it was reminded us of the huge changes which have (and still are) taken place in the area, the next stage being the takeover of these platforms by the DLR extension. The SR EPBs which took over later were shown and we realised just how 'foreign' they looked in East London. North Woolwich terminus, now unused for railway operations, was next which brought us neatly to our first bus shots with RMs on the famous 101 route at the Ferry Terminal.

We then had a long session on the steam paddle ferries operating across the river to Woolwich in the late 50's, wonderfully vintage vessels with side loading of vehicles. Being a relatively local resident Dave brought us many tales of these ferries, in those days people would stay on board for hours going to and fro for a nice day out and all for free!

Then it was back to Stratford, mostly at the end of steam with many interesting locos in for scrap and not forgetting the famous coaler. Facts about the shed flowed freely from Dave's intimate knowledge e.g. when the LNER took over from the GER the allocation was 500 locos but from LNER to BR it was 400. A shed unlike any other.

More vintage ferries followed on the Tilbury to Gravesend route long before the days of the Dartford crossing. Hence there were separate vehicle and passenger ferries, the former built by the LMS in 1923 and the latter very basic and built by the LTSR in 1902 - 08.

Next was a real gem which captured perfectly the atmosphere and geography of the branch to Allhallows and Grain terminus from Gravesend, which was steam worked up to its closure in December 1961 mostly in push and pull mode by the H class 0-4-4T's but occasionally by the equally ancient C class 0-6-0's The Isle of Grain has a very open, almost bleak, landscape and the promoters of the line hoped to make Allhallows another Southend but it all came to nought and the island remains a rather strange area to this day. Of note was the construction of the stations and halts which consisted almost entirely of the products of the SR's concrete works at Exmouth Junction.

The Tetbury and Cirencester lines from Kemble, both in steam and diesel railbus days were shown; a GWR Pagoda and the unusually named Trouble House Halt being rare features. Back to the GE with a wonderfully nostalgic look at the Hunstanton branch on August Bank Holiday Sunday in 1958 with no less than 20 specials from far and wide plus the regular local service, nearly all steam worked. Every through train had to be reengined at Kings Lynn and disposal of all the stock had to be carefully managed, a masterpiece of organisation. A J19 was pressed into service and even a LMR 4F which had come into Lynn on a special from Bedford. A sobering thought to think that all this activity has long since passed into history.

A real surprise followed with our own Tower Ramparts in 1985 bringing back memories of the IB buses of the time and 4 independents' vehicles at the OCM, too. Finally we had more vintage bus shots - RTs in Manor Park (don't go there now!), Green Line RTs and RCLs looking magnificent at Romford and Brentwood plus EN FLFs and Bristol Ks.

So ended an absolutely super show and, yes, I have been asked to book Dave for next season. Steve Worsley summed it all up very well in his vote of thanks.

During the interval there was another surprise when our Chairman was presented with an O.Winston Link print in recognition of all his hard work for the Society over many years, especially for our 50th celebrations last year.