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Chairman Secretary Editor John Clark Tony Wright David Hinxman 17 Beckett Close 43 Pyotts Copse, Old Basing 2 Dean Close Basingstoke Basingstoke Winchester RG23 8HS RG24 8WE SO22 5LP 01256 350329 01256 331002 01962 861233 jeclark71@hotmail.com secretary@bdrs70d.com bdrsnewsletter@yahoo.co.uk

Meetings to be held on Wednesdays at 7.45pm at the Wote Street Club, Basingstoke: 13 SEPTEMBER: 150 YEARS OF THE LONDON UNDERGROUND with BARRY LEJEUNE. Barry is Chairman of the Friends of the London Transport Museum and gives us a talk on 150 years of the London Underground system. 27 SEPTEMBER: THE ANNUAL PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION. The competition will be managed again by David Brace. The rules are on page 2 of the August newsletter. Make sure that you get your pictures to David BY FRIDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2017 11 OCTOBER: BRANCH LINES, BEECHING & BLACK SMOKE with GERALD DANIELS. A selection of pictures by Gerald covering steam pre-diesel/electric on BR, Beeching closures and steam from South Africa. 25 OCTOBER: THE WITHERED ARM - A PERSONAL JOURNEY with HOWARD SPRENGER. A journey over as many of the ex-SR lines west of Exeter as we can in 2 hours. Most of the photos are Howard's own and have never been published.

We would be pleased to hear from anyone who could give a railway-based presentation. This Newsletter is produced by the Basingstoke and District Railway Society and is issued free of charge and for the interest of its members and of the Society’s friends

Visit us at : www.bdrs70d.com September 2017 Vol.45 No.9

Full steam ahead at The Beeches Light Railway in the garden of Adrian Shooter, the former

director of Chiltern Railways, who is concentrating on the road ahead during a visit this

summer by several members of the Society. Iain Henshaw

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EDITORIAL Peter Tran At our first meeting in August our Chairman, John Clarke reported the sad news of long-standing member Peter Tran's passing. A number of Society members attended his funeral on 23 August at which John spoke of Peter's dedication to the Society. Peter had joined in 1976 following a work transfer to the area. By February 1978 he was a member of the Committee and acted as Trips Officer of which there were a number at the time. Two years later he was Secretary and later the Editor of the newsletter with assistance from Ian his son. Over time he also acted as the Society's Auditor and performed the crucial role of Programme Organiser. He also set up the videotape library generating useful extra income for the Society. In 2001 he was elected Secretary of the Society again, an office which he held until handing over the baton in 2010. Of his 40 years' membership it is staggering to see that for some 80% of the time he was involved in the management of the Society. He was also a regular participant in the Society's European travels and, with wife Vera, a regular supporter of our Christmas meeting and film, our summer day trips and our annual dinner. He was a kind, gentle, helpful and cheerful man with a passion for trains and trams. He will be missed very much by all those who knew him. The New Swanage to Wareham Service Sampled We had had the date in our diaries for some weeks and, despite the weather forecast, I and a couple of friends pressed on with our plan to sample the recently introduced service from Wareham to Swanage in early August. The previous day I had looked on the Swanage Railway's website to see which locos would be in service. Oh dear. Not good news. Unrebuilt Battle of Britain 34070 Manston and Standard 2-6-4 tank 80104, still numbered 80146 from their recent ‘end of Southern steam’ gala, had apparently had an unscheduled meeting somewhere between Swanage station signal box and the engine shed just north of the station. The website said that no steam was operating so that was a disappointment but we pressed on with our plans. To add to our woes it was a wet day. Whilst it was raining cats and dogs at the World Athletic Championships at the Olympic Park, further to the south west at Swanage it was just steady drizzle all day with the occasional break or occasional heavy shower. We left from Southampton Parkway having shared the £15 all day parking charge between us and arrived at Wareham with plenty of time to spare before the 11.15am departure. The caravan-cum- kiosk ticket office in the station car park would not open until 11.00am the man in charge said, so we wandered off into the town for a coffee. On our return half an hour later there was quite a queue but with most people buying a straightforward £20 Freedom of the Line ticket there was little delay and we were on platform 1 well in advance of the service arriving from Swanage. The stock was the

London Transport Museum’s 4TC set top, and tailed by two Class 33s - D6515 in BR green and 33025 in West Coast maroon. There was a 5 minute turn round so time for a photograph or two of each loco before setting off for Swanage. Several enthusiasts were on the 'up' platform filming and photographing the departure. About a mile or so out of Wareham we peeled away left from the main line and onto the Swanage branch passing through the countryside at a leisurely pace. With no tender, U class no. 31625 was tucked away in a barn on our right. Within ten minutes we were at Norden where the train became much busier and then Corfe Castle with LSWR T3 no. 563, recently gifted to the Railway from the National Collection, stood in the yard by the museum in the goods shed attracting attention. From here it was non-stop to Swanage where waiting to depart was former Watercress Line loco Class U no. 31806 which was sharing

The National Railway Museum has donated the unique LSWR Adams T3, No. 563 built in 1893, to the Swanage Railway where it sits for public inspection in the goods yard

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non-Wareham services with the Railway's own blue Class 33, push-pull no. 33111 so, in the end, we had the best of both worlds: some steam haulage and some Class 33 haulage. On another day we might well have also had some Class 37 haulage as West Coast liveried 37518 was parked up Wareham side of the tiny engine shed behind 34070 which showed no sign of collision damage. M7 30053 was a bit nearer Swanage on the same track whilst, to our surprise, T9 30120 was immediately outside the engine shed with its firebox door open and not going anywhere. Problems with her petticoat apparently. So where was the Standard 2-6-4 tank? At the time it was, and maybe still is, an 0-6-4 parked on the western side of the station site opposite the signal box. There was no one to ask about how long it might be out of use but it had clearly come second in its meeting with Manston.

The last train back to Wareham from Swanage was at 4.15 so we maximised the day rover ticket down to Harman's Cross, back to Corfe Castle and Norden then Harman's Cross again and finally back to Swanage for the last through train, spending time here and there so that we also could also photograph each of the service trains. Back at Wareham there was time to watch the last service to Swanage depart. Some of those on the platform may have come a long way to enjoy this new service. I spied among those taking photographs a mature gentleman wearing a kilt. Perhaps he and his family were on holiday at Weymouth and he had mentioned to his wife that he had not seen a Class 33 before and, guess what, a few miles up the road he could get a picture of three! An oppor-

tunity not to be missed ………...or perhaps not. Either way it was hardly the weather for wearing a kilt but there is no accounting for taste.

West Coast liveried 33025 pulls away from Wareham with the fourth and last return train of the day for Swa-nage and is duly photographed not only by me but a kilted fan and several others alongside me.

Standard 4 tank no. 80104 was an 0-6-4T at the time of my visit, the gap created by the missing front bogie being very noticeable.

THE STORY OF THE WELSH HIGHLAND RAILWAY—PART 5 : TCL AND THE SECTION 206 RECONSTRUCTION PLAN PETER WELLS

Once the OR had refused to sell the trackbed unless an Abandonment Order had been applied for, officers of the '64Co paid him regular visits to see if he would change his mind but the answer was always “No” but at the end of one of these meetings in 1978 an assistant at the OR said, “ You could always try a Section 206 Reconstruction”. This meant nothing at the time but a little research in the Companies Act 1948 was most revealing. Section 206 laid down that if a company was in the process of being wound up compulsorily it was open to a creditor to call a meeting of the creditors. If at that meeting a minimum of 75% of the outstanding debt was offered and at least 75% of the creditors present voted to accept that offer then the company could be released from receivership and resume trading! Could this be the way forward? No need to buy the trackbed! No need to seek an Abandonment Order! the '22WHR Co would simply resume trading! It seemed almost too good to be true. Those who wanted to see the entire trackbed retained for a complete reopening of the line were very enthusiastic at the possibility but when the news was brought back to the '64Co Committee it was not well received. They had voted to support the GCC and were angry that a

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A TRIP TO THE BALKANS - JUNE 2017. DAVE NEWMAN At the end of June I made a visit to Serbia to visit the Sargan 8 Narrow Gauge Railway at Mokra Gora. The other reason for going was to cover the Sofia - Belgrade day train which had been reported as being hauled by GM class 666. Thursday 22 June: I left Basingstoke on the 1704 Reading train with 165.108 for onward travel to Banbury with 220.013 on the 1745 departure from Reading. Had a 30 minute wait at Banbury before catching the 1857 to Birmingham International with 220.023. A single to Banbury and then Banbury to International with railcard was cheaper than a through ticket. Had booked a Wizzair flight from Birmingham to Sofia, Bulgaria, at a very reasonable price. Met Tim, my travelling companion, and waited for flight which was 2245,but turned out to be 0115, due to late running/flying. Thankfully the Weatherspoons, airside, stayed open late. Friday 23 June : Due to the late running our 0340 arrival turned into a 0600 arrival. Transfer by bus from Terminal 1,used by Wizz, to Terminal 2. A quick coffee before travelling on the new METRO into town. This wasn't built on my last visit and goes to the main railway station, a bonus. Departure was 0940 so after purchasing tickets to Nis, breakfast of burek and coffee, we went to the platform shown on the indicator board. 0940 came and went and still no gen. Eventually found out we were waiting for the late running train from Istanbul which was a booked connection. We departed eventually at 1136 with electric 46.208. At the Serbian border, Dimitrovgrad, they changed engines and GM 666.001 backed on and worked through to Nis, arriving late. Intention was to do a train to Lapovo for the Bar overnight train. Obtained some Serbian currency, Dinara, a ticket to Lapovo, and coffee. Walked out to find the train we had got off was still in the platform. Departure time should have been 1408, but turned out to be 1652. Just a tad late and with Electric 441.753 in charge. We had several hours wait at Lapovo so a late arrival was no problem. Outside the station we found a bar which did draught beer but no food. The overnight Belgrade to Bar was temporarily diverted via Lapovo and diesel hauled Lapovo to Kraljevo. With a departure time of 2235 we settled down to

group of members including some directors were now pressing to take a totally different direction. The outcome in 1983 was a split within the '64Co, those directors in favour of Reconstruction were forced to resign and dissidents had their membership suspended for not supporting the agreed company policy. It was a crossroads in the story of the Welsh Highland Railway. From here on the two groups would be irreconcilable. The dissidents now had to find and purchase debenture stock to qualify as creditors. As creditors they were entitled to ask the OR for a list of shareholders . Of course this was years out of date, no dealing had been recorded since the Winding Up Order had been applied for in 1944. A lot of painstaking detective work followed to trace former share holders. This is where Henry Joseph Jack re-emerges in the story because the shareholders list showed him to have been the principal share holder with over £52,000 of the £90,000 issued share capital. But where was he? Simple arithmetic said that he was almost certainly dead but no will could be found. It looked like the end of the road until, almost by chance, the searchers were told that he had changed his name (!) to Henry Jack Macinnes. He had died in 1946 leaving his estate to his wife who had also died 3 years later in 1949. The shares were not mentioned but her estate was divided equally between his 2 nieces, Thelma Weidman and Lola Cook. And that was all. No details or addresses. The searchers would need a lot of luck to take this line of enquiry any further but their luck held and the two neices were traced to Canada where they agreed to sell their shareholding in the '22WHR . Meanwhile the dissidents were busy seeking out other debenture or share holders and they decided to have the shares they were acquiring vested in a company name. They bought a small ready made company and changed its name to Trackbed Consolidation Ltd (TCL). The shares were secure there and could not be accessed by anyone else without the agreement of the directors. Furthermore if they could accumulate a majority shareholding the OR could not sell the trackbed to GCC, which was what they wanted to do, without the agreement of TCL which, as majority shareholders, they would not be willing to do. Amazingly in the 3 years from 1983 TCL succeeded in acquiring 88% of the share capital of the old company and 65% of the debentures. The next few years would be very difficult but at least after such a long period of virtually no progress there would now be some hope of success and a chance that the entire trackbed would be preserved for reconstruction of the WHR. To be continued……………...

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wait. True to form, it arrived late. 666.003 backed on and we left only 30 late for the trip to Kraljevo where they swapped for electric 461.011. Saturday 24 June: Intention was to get off at Uzice at 0400 but due to the late running, tiredness etc managed to sleep past our stop. Got off at Pribjo, the next stop at 0600. Realising this was not that far from Mokra Gora we negotiated with a taxi as to the fare. Car was a beat up old Lada, no seat belts and struggled up the hills and involved going into Bosnia, with entry/exit passport stamps for arrival at Mokra Gora in time for breakfast. Stayed at the Hotel that used to be part of the original station buildings, not the newly built addition. Mokra Gora is a station that used to be on the original Belgrade - Sarajevo - Dubrovnik narrow gauge railway. The line from Mokra Gora towards Bosnia, Sarajevo, not sure how far, looked in good condition and understand the only reason its not in use is the political situation. Another narrow gauge line around a lake exists, different gauge I believe, but no idea if working. As the room wasn't ready, did 1030 departure, with diesel L45H.098 in charge to Sargan Vitasi. This is at the top of the climb and about a 35 minute non-stop run. The run back involves several stops for viewing platforms, and a booked meal/beer break. Once back at Mokra Gora we checked in, freshened up and went for beer and food. L45H.098 worked the afternoon departure and the (if required) evening train. Early to bed as two overnights had been done.

Sunday 25 June.: Late start today so, after a leisurely breakfast, we had a wander around the stabling point. L45H.097 had shunted 098 several times but they didn't seem to want to use it. We caught the 1330 departure with L45H.098 once again in charge. The shed at Sargan Vitasi was not open but an undefined 740 was just visible. In the yard was steam 83.052 looking in working order. The stabling shed had steam 83.173 in bad condition along with 25.027 in slightly better condition. L45H.098 back down the hill to Mokra Gora for a meal/drink and another early night. Monday 26 June: Starting journey home today so viewed the 1030 departure, L45H.098 again. After checking railway timetable we realised we could not get to Nis in time to stay unless we had an early start which meant a taxi to Uzice as bus was 11.00. So BUS to Uzice and a further BUS from there to Nis. Total time 1100-2100, 10 hours. Whilst waiting connection at Uzice managed to book hotel in Nis, A First Best Western, 4star+ with an excellent Italian restaurant next door which had 2 draught beers, one a dark local brew and very good. All for the grand price of 49 euros, including a free drink due to a mix up about the room. Tuesday 27 June: Another late start. Departure time 1414, and with ZS's late running expected it to be late. A good PYB, taxi to the station, couple of beers and wait for the train. It arrived at 1500 and departed at 1530 with 666.003 in charge as far as Dimitrovgrad where it was replaced by Bulgarian electric 45.146. Our 2010 arrival turned into 2243, just 153 minutes late. Taxi to pre-booked hotel, and we still managed a couple of beers before bed. Wednesday 28 June: Flight back to Luton, Wizz again. Metro to Terminal 2, 40 minutes. Bus transfer to Terminal 1 and flight home. As Luton was a different airport from my departure I didn't

Courtesy of Pristina from the Internet, an example of Serbian Class 461 which took Dave’s train from Kraljevo to Pribjo.

Courtesy the Editor and running on the Children’s Railway in Budapest, the Hungarian version of Serbian Class L45H.

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have a return railway ticket so decided to bus it home. 99 Luton - Milton Keynes (1.hr ), then X5 to Oxford (2.5.hrs ) and finally XC train to Basingstoke (1.hr ). Old Fogies Bus Pass accepted on 99 and X5. All in all a good trip, with objectives completed. Serbia can be exasperating with all the late running but I found it interesting. The weather was in the low 30's so very nice. The beer could have been better, but it was drinkable and cold. One noticeable point, the £ was declined in several exchange offices but the € Euro was accepted everywhere. Brexit ???

Courtesy of folkestonejack on the Internet, an example of a Class 83 narrow gauge steam locomotive on a short freight train at Mokra Gora.

RER NO MORE? RICHARD GREEN

Members who took part in the recent visit to Mulhouse used the RER to transfer from Paris Gare du Nord to Paris Gare de Lyon. This may soon no longer be possible. The French press reported in early June that the abbreviation RER, standing for Réseau Express Régional (Regional Express Network), was to be dropped. The term, introduced in the 1970s, currently applies to five cross-city suburban lines in the Paris area, lettered A to E, but not to other suburban lines. The decision was made by the Paris transport body STIF (Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France) which said RER is no longer understood and that the word Train should be used instead – Train A, B, C, etc. The disappearance of the term, invented by the French and widely used, would be very surprising. The French-speaking Swiss and Belgians also use the name for their own networks, such as RER Vaud around Lausanne (although line numbers here are prefixed by S) and the developing Brussels network. The German equivalent term, S-Bahn, is widely used in Switzerland and Austria as well as Germany, and seems unlikely to be discontinued.

HOCKLEY VIADUCT, WINCHESTER DAVID BRACE Recently, as part of a “Walking with Your Camera” group of U3A, I walked across Hockley viaduct, south of Winchester. This, most of you will recall, was the Itchen crossing of the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway (DN&SR) shortly before it joined the LSWR main line between Winchester and Shawford. It can be viewed clearly from the M3 south of Twyford Down cutting. As most of you will also know, the DN&SR was built by a nominally independent company via Newbury and Whitchurch to give the GWR its own access to the port of Southampton and not be reliant on its traditional enemy the LSWR. However, the original company ran out of money and terminated at Winchester Chesil station (originally Cheesehill). It eventually achieved a temporary truce by negotiating a junction with the LSWR near Shawford and continuing on LSWR tracks to Southampton Terminus. The link from Chesil to Shawford Junction was completed by 1891 following

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a £16,000 loan from the LSWR. This was due for repayment by 1900 and was officially paid off by Lord Wantage using funds secretly supplied by the GWR to thwart the LSWR. It appears that the LSWR ran the trains south of Winchester Chesil with the GWR taking over the running north thereof. With the Railway Grouping in 1921 the railway was absorbed by the GWR with effect from 1923. The southern part of the line closed to passengers in 1961 and to goods in 1965. Winchester City, SUSTRANS cycling charity and Friends of Hockley Viaduct funded the restoration at a total cost of some £0.75m and it reopened in 2013. The Friends provided the upper quadrant stop signal in the off position.

There are a number of information boards (example right) mounted on the parapets and it was one of these that sparked my initial interest. I had previously assumed that the GWR had funded the entire line including the viaduct and was surprised to see that the LSWR was responsible for the line and the viaduct south of Chesil. This was presumably why the Friends also provided an upper quadrant signal rather than a GWR lower quadrant one. They have also estored the base of a LSWR signal. One of the information boards shows a rather fanciful LSWR 2-6-2T reflecting the company’s operation. To my knowledge the LSWR did not own a 2-6-2T. It is not clear when the GWR started running through to Southampton. Was it at the grouping, World War 2 or at Nationalisation? If you have not been there, this viaduct and the route up to Winchester is well worth a visit. It is probably no more than 30 minutes walk from Winchester City station. Alternatively, park at the Park and Ride facility off the M3 near Twyford Cutting.

Above left, the many arches of Hockley Viaduct before restoration, and, right, the view along the deck since restoration, including the upper quadrant signal

BASEL NARROW GAUGE? RICHARED GREEN

On Sunday 28 May this year, BDRS members on the Mulhouse trip arrived at Platform 3 of Basel SBB station expecting to see a Milan-bound RABe 503 / ETR 610 unit – streamlined, air-conditioned and tilting – that would take us as far as Olten. But the train was cancelled – Ausfall on the departure boards. The platform was empty. To compensate for the disappointment some people photographed the empty track. Did they notice the third rail? Why dual gauge track when there are

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no narrow gauge trains in the area? Metre gauge trams, for sure, but they are not known to pass through the station. Anyway, they operate under 600 V DC whereas the station is a 15 kV AC environment. Research has yielded the definitive answer but, for the moment, readers are invited to send their explanations to the editor. The truth will be revealed in the next issue.

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS 9 August: An (incomplete) A-Z of Pre-Grouping Railway Picture Postcards with John Hollands David Brace This evening John presented an amazing selection of railway picture postcards from the pre-grouping era. He reminded us that, in its day, the picture postcard was used like present day text messages and emails. In the early days, the address of the receiver was put on one side and the message and sender on the other leaving only a small space for a picture. Senders got around this by putting the message on the same side as the address and soon Royal Mail specified splitting one side in two so that the address and message were on one side and a full picture could be put on the other. The golden era of postcards was between 1902 and 1914. The pictures also improved when the UK adopted the Continental size of 5½ by 3½ in. Not many people owned cameras so postcards were a good alternative. Main publishers numbered only a handful and some railway companies also published details of their trains and the areas they served. The most prolific publisher was the Locomotive Publishing Company, set up by two former employees of the GER. In order to supply colour postcards, they used a technique of black and white photographs overpainted in oils. Of the railway companies, the most prolific producer of postcards was the London & North Western who sold at least 10 million cards. John worked his way through the alphabet, each letter being illustrated with cards covering subjects such as locomotives from companies or locations. The Great Central included Woodhead. The Great Eastern had the Decapod, the Great Northern an 0-8-2T and the Great Western the Great Bear. The LNWR selection was fairly extensive and included Bushey Troughs, Shap, flooding at Walsall and the accident at Shrewsbury in 1907. Q was neatly dealt with – the worst railway accident in the UK – Quintishill in 1915 – for which a number of postcards were produced showing different scenes from the multiple crash. We also had examples of overseas railways such as Austria, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, France and

Picture showing the third rail at Basel SBB railway station courtesy of Wally Stamper.

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Germany. The Canadian cards were of particular interest being part of a set of 8 showing the spiral tunnels on the Canadian Pacific route through the tunnels at a time when expensive works were carried out to ease the gradients. A French locomotive from the PLM company was also interesting – a Windcutter – streamlined to cope with the Mistral wind in southern France. Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey and the USA all provided examples. More eccentric or unusual postcards included Invicta in a museum in Whitstable, flooding at Lewes and the Volks electric railway in Brighton and, towards the end, John showed us postcards connect-ed with WW1 which included enlisting posters and the LBSCR 4-6-4T Remembrance. This was a very entertaining evening made possible by John’s extensive postcard collection and his equally extensive knowledge of the subject. 23 August: South Africa with Norman Hogg Society member Norman gave us a striking video presentation this evening of three tours of which he had been a part starting with The Golden Thread in August 1997 from Cape Town to Oudtshoorn and back, The Cape Namibian in 2004, and finally, starting just two weeks after the first tour, The Zambezi from Cape Town to Victoria Falls. Although just 20 years ago, the two 1997 tours, and for that matter the 2004 trip, illustrated just how different things were then although footage of steam locomotives looking the worse for wear dumped in yards and at sheds was indicative of the direction in which things were going. That said, there was still heavyweight steam in operation sharing freight and passenger work with diesel traction. There were too many different classes of each for me to keep up with but there was plenty of impressive footage of powerful Garretts shunting in yards as locals wandered across the tracks or double heading with other locos and creating explosive scenes. Run pasts were part of all of the tours and many impressive locations featured allowing loco crews to put on a good show. The curvature of the 3' 6'' track added to the impact as the long trains and a telephoto lens emphasised the visual effect. Each of the three tours had a different attraction but comfort and good food seemed to be pre-eminent. The Golden Thread, headed by North British built 4-8-4 Class xx no. 3417, set off for an area well known for its grapes and wine. The Zambezi's objective, again starting with 3417 in charge, was a stop on the famous bridge over the Victoria Falls, footage of which Norman had enjoyed from the air during what he described as a precarious helicopter trip. During this tour, Kimberley and Mafikeng were names to conjure with from a historic perspective as the special ventured into Botswana whilst Bulawayo teemed with steam and railway activity. Our appreciation of the third tour, The Namibian in 2004, was aided by Norman's brief history lesson explaining how, over the last 150 years or so, the country had gone from being part of the German empire before falling under British control and finally gaining its independence in 1990. The railway had developed over this period with different gauges before setting on the South African norm of 3'6''. En route across the desert we stopped at De Aar which Norman described as the Namibian equivalent of Crewe. The capital, Windhoek, housed the national railway museum and was also a very busy railway centre. For those who love their steam locomotion this evening was a treat and there were plenty of diesels operating too for those with a more modern bent but there was also plenty of social, economic and cultural interest. For Norman it must have brought back some wonderful memories whilst for the audience I suspect there were some who said to themselves that they would have loved to have been there savouring the sounds and smell of steam (tinged with oil vapour at times).

MEETINGS OF OTHER SOCIETIES Meon Valley Locomotive Society: 7.45pm, Church Hall, Free Street, Bishop’s Waltham 12 September: The Route of the Cambrian Mountain Express with Mike Pym 10 October : Ken Livermore, title TBA

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Newbury and District Transport Group: 7.30pm, Kennet School Library, Stoney Lane, Thatcham 18 September: Titans, Tigers and Lions with Martijn Gilber, MD of Reading Buses 16 October: Monmouth Canals with Paul Joyce. Railway Club of the New Forest: 7.30pm, Mclellan Hall, Lymington Community Centre, Cannon Street, Lymington 29 September: Siberian Yorkshire featuring 0-6-2 Coal Tank No.1054 with Ken Mumford 27 October:The Rhätische Bahn (RhB) Revisited with John Fissler Oxfordshire Railway Society: 7.30pm, Seacourt Day Centre, Seacourt Road, Botley, Oxford 13 September: A Pot Pourri in Six Decades on Gauges Large and Small with David Walker 11 October: Chiltern Railways with Steve Barker, Interim Business Development Director, Chiltern Railways RCTS Solent Branch: 7.30pm, Railway Institute, Romsey Road, Eastleigh SO50 9FE 20 September: The Royal Train with Mick Foster 18 October: Mixed transport evening with slides by Martin Davies RCTS Woking: 7.15pm, United Reformed Church, White Rose Lane, Woking 26 September: First MTR - the New Southwestern Rail Franchise (subject to confirmation) 24 October: London Underground Train Maintenance - a Century of Progress with Piers Connor Reading Transport Group: 7.45pm, Church House, Church Street, Caversham, Reading For programme visit - readingtransportgroup.weebly.com/ Southern Counties Railway Society: 6.45pm, Friends Meeting House, Ordnance Road, Southampton 16 September: Southern Lines in Devon and Cornwall with Mike Pym 21 October: Salute to the Great Western and Southern with Simon Foote

WHERE AM I? Perhaps it was because I had to miss the first meeting in August or the regulars were away but no one contacted me to tell me that I was at Cardiff Canton depot on the footbridge which crossed over the main line to the depot entrance. It was 3 April 1990 when Class 37, 56s and 60s could be seen in abundance. Here is this month’s poser: