Meeting Report 16 February 2012
The first half of John Hanchet's presentation on 16th February was intriguingly entitled "A Blurb on Preservation". "Blurb", we were to learn, was effectively an on-line publishing system - available on download - by which you could be your own author / publisher. It is probably best suited to the coffee-table type of photographic album, with relatively little text, and the 80 page book John had produced cost him around £27. Its advantages lie in its versatility - no piles of prints to pass round; no digital displays either. Mind you, "Blurb" publications are not for the faint-hearted, and as with any photographic album considerable photographic talent is essential, clearly apparent as John took us through the entire book.

John is a member of Norwich and District Photographic Society - there appears to be little railway interest among their members but they do know about producing photographs acceptable to photographers. John largely achieved this - sometimes the train was secondary to the landscape and there were some excellent views of people and railway structures. He likes foreground in front of the train and enjoys photographing trains in the countryside. He is a supporter of photographic charters - no idiots spoiling the pictures - and I particularly liked his night shots (often on the G.C.) although he said that a tripod was required. Food for thought, as they say.

John probably broke new ground in the second half of his presentation, when we saw part of a German-language DVD on Meiningen Locomotive Works, a little to the north-east of Frankfurt. It's probably well-known that Tornado's boiler was manufactured here, but the DVD was something of a step back into a bygone age as the repair facilities seemed to have comparatively little modern equipment. The works seemed about the same size as (say) Derby or Eastleigh, and much smaller than Crewe or Swindon. The former Prussian State Railways works was opened in 1914, and probably the largest number of employees worked there shortly after WW2. We saw locos being dismantled for repair, badly scaled tubes being removed, and a the strength of a boiler being determined by a metallurgist. Wheels were likewise removed and re-profiled, cylinders re-bored, and gradually the engine was re-assembled prior to its test runs. Health & Safety tended to be in the background ! It was hard to date the DVD - it was obviously post-reunification and probably just after the merger of the Deutsche Bundesbahn and Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1994. Nowadays, the works undertakes steam locomotive repair from all over Europe, and is responsible for the safety inspections of all operational German steam locomotives. (EM)

Meeting Report 2 February 2012
We tend to think of the Channel Tunnel or Crossrail as big deals in terms of rail tunnelling, but both are easily outclassed by the 57km-long Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) which engineers have been boring under the Swiss Alps - through rock, not simple clay! - since 1995.

This massive piece of engineering was the subject of Chris Mitchell's illustrated talk on February 2. He called it Emmental Cheese and Marmots. Why? Well, the cheese's manufacturing process is designed to produced the familiar holes - or tunnels - and marmots are renowned for living in burrows, often within rockpiles, and hibernating there through the winter. (They also use whistles to communicate, as do, apparently, the rail tunnellers.)

The GBT is expected to open in 2016 and is the world's longest rail tunnel. Its purpose is to increase transport capacity across the Alps, especially for freight between Germany and Italy, and to shift freight from road to rail to reduce environmental damage. It will also cut the journey time for passenger trains from Zürich to Milan by about an hour and from Zürich to Lugano to 1 hour 40 minutes.

Chris is professionally involved with Crossrail and was privileged to visit the GBT with an Institution of Civil Engineers party last year. He showed pictures from a journey over the 'old' route - spectacular mountain scenery and spiral tunnels - as well as a video of the TBM's breakthrough last July.

For the meeting's second half Chris took us on a journey south over the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon (BLS) railway, the second-largest Swiss standard-gauge network. From a blend of Chris's own and borrowed slides, we saw the wide variety of motive power from several countries which can be found on this three-voltage route. They include the tilting Cisalpino units as well as many locos liberally covered with advertising vinyls.

A fascinating evening ended with two short DVDs, one of rail activity around the north end of the existing St Gotthard tunnel at Göschenen, the other a journey over the BLS through Spiez and the Lötschberg Tunnel to Brig.

Thanks are also due to Chris for introducing a novel but appropriate accompaniment - slices of Emmental - to our half-time refreshments.

NRS Annual Show Satuarday 28 January
This was held on Saturday 28th January, and seemed to be enjoyed by young and old, and by members and non-members. Alan Thurling acted as roving reporter, for which I'm very grateful. The EDP/EEN kindly sent a photographer/reporter, and local members will have read about the Show a few days later (Click for EDP Report). Our Shows began life as Open Days (with members' work predominant) back in 1997, and the indefatigable Mike Fordham has organised the lot ! This report is, however, confined mainly to the visiting displays etc.

Archivist Raymond Meek produced an excellent display, themed on the 3 Norwich stations - Thorpe, Victoria & City. David Rowlands asked to be described as an aviation artist, though his display of paintings & prints covered various transport subjects. Our visit to the Tata Steelworks at Scunthorpe last year was recalled in a suitable painting. Not content with one artist, Brian Lewis of Sheringham doubled the number.

The Norfolk O Gauge Mardlers had a demonstration stand of O Gauge locomotives - including a Gresley P2 - mainly kit built locos from brass and nickel silver, with matching rolling stock. The Norwich Model Railway Club  (Cyril Davies) had an N gauge layout with much to admire in a small space, including models of 160 people.  "Nibley Knoll" (Graham & Caroline Watling) was the name of an 009 narrow gauge railway incorporating kit-built and ready-to-run locos and coaches, with excellent landscaping and water features.

"Rosebud City Union Station" (below) was the first part of a 22' American N gauge layout based on a Montana location. Brian Willcocks is hoping to run large trains (up to 14 coaches) through an urban landscape. Andrew Ingram (well-known to Society members) had an excellent presentation of steam-era photographs taken in the Peterborough area. The Broadland Model Railway Club (Geoff Dimmer & Alan Ball) had a dual gauge display - a quarry in 009 narrow gauge and an 00 gauge main line.

The Great Yarmouth Model Boat Club was represented by founder-member Alan Jones. The have resurrected the old Yarmouth Model Boat Club and had a fine model of a New York Harbour steam tug which used to be used to shuttle barges loaded with railroad cars. Graham Smith's LGB layout represented North German Islands narrow-gauge. Two of these islands still have railway systems, and buy in locos/stock from almost anywhere, thus simplifying the modeller's task. The Friends of Norwich City Station (FONCS) (Jon Batley) are carrying out a sort of modern archaeological dig to expose as much as possible of what's left of City station. They hope to incorporate a grassed memorial area with an M & G N bench and information boards.

Ronald Frith and Roger Upson-Smith had a Meccano display, with several models (some working) from kits ranging from the 1920s to the present - this was very popular. Brian Baker from the 7¼" Gauge Society brought along 3 goods vehicles in this impressive scale. Ian Wells flew the flag for Wroxham's Barton House Railway - it has two ride-on railways of 3½" & 7¼" gauge and an interesting museum. From over the border James Hewett, from the Southwold Railway Trust, publicised its plans for Wenhaston, where they hope to construct a 3' gauge line on ½ mile of track, and if planning permission is granted the site will include a workshop, cafe, lakes and a wild flower meadow.

The George Williamson Memorial Layout (courtesy of David Hall, Diss Model Railway Society) was a restored N gauge layout with a Peak District BR (LMR) flavour. Peter Willis, a member of the Hornby Railway Collectors Association,  had "Binns Road" - an 00 gauge layout of Hornby LNER, LMS & BR locos and rolling stock.  Robert Scarfe showed a selection of films (many his own) during the afternoon, and the advantages of Blu-Ray & HD were there for all to see. Jane Goodyear, John Hanchet and Andy Wright had excellent photographic displays.

Thanks to all other NRS members who displayed models, publicity material and so on - sadly, space simply does not permit of an exhaustive listing.

And that's almost it. Thanks to Ann, Bernice, Christine, Janet, Jenni, Joy, Marie, Maureen, Rose & Sue for keeping the large crowd fed and watered throughout.

And finally - our raffle raised funds to aid the painting of "Wissington" (HC 1700 of 1938). Chris King won 1st prize (a framed print of an aerial view of "The Sheringham Crossing" taken by Mike Page). Thanks to all who bought tickets.  Ian Lake, Wissington Project Co-ordinator, has replied: "Once again, many thanks to you and the NRS for supporting the Wissington project. As we close in on the end of the restoration, the funds will prove very useful - every penny is appreciated. Please convey our thanks to all of the NRS. You will be pleased to know that we are getting very close to test steaming the boiler in the frames".


Meeting Report 19 January 2012
Brazil was the next country to be visited as Ken Mills continued his South American journey on 19th January. It is a vast country, the fifth largest in the world, both by size and population, which is close on 200 million.

He began with a visit to the steam-worked Tubarao coal mining complex which is, unusually, isolated from the rest of the rail network. It was metre gauge, and we saw several non-compound Mallets, including a 2.6.6.2. Trains were fully fitted, and weighed around 1400 tons. The loco fleet was around 27/28, and a Manning Wardle 0.4.0ST  was on display. A very impressive 2.10.4 "Texan" was also seen. When Ken visited, flooding had destroyed part of the 70 mile line and coal was brought to the trains by conveyor. Although mainly U.S. locos were used, there had been a lot of withdrawals in the 1970s, and some locos from Argentina were brought in to replace them.

After returning to Rio de Janeiro it was time to vist the Rio Tramway (Santa Teresa Tram), which runs over 2 routes - from the central area to Dos Imilios, and from the central area to Paulo Mattos. Overhead trolley type collection was in use but, most amazing of all, were slides of trams crossing the 148' high Carioca aqueduct. The aqueduct dates from the 1750, and is just wide enough to take the single track tramway.

Apart from its famous beaches (which were strangely absent from Ken's presentation !), Rio is well-known for its (huge 130' high) statue of Christ, perhaps the country's best-known image, and which is illuminated at night. This is located on the top of Mount Corcovado but post-dates the railway (originally steam, but now electric) and lies in a stunning setting. An hourly service runs, though some trains require a minimum of 10 passengers.

Continuing on a colourful theme, next stop was the VFCO Sao Joao del Rei, an amazingly decorative railway,some 250 miles inland, this time on the 2'6" gauge. Perhaps the most notable of the embellished locos was a Baldwin 4.4.0 of 1912.

The EFCJ (Campos Do Jordao) is in the Sao Paulo area is an electrified, metre gauge line that climbs from Pindamohangara to what is known as "the Brazilian Switzerland". The line is 29 miles long, and services run at 40 minute intervals. A variety of overhead-collection cars are in use, some British dating back to the line's opening. Contrastingly,Sao Paulo itself suffers greatly from weekday smog (it is clear at weekends) and a metro railway has recently been constructed.

Next visit was to a cement company's line at Cajamar, north west of Sao Paulo. Once again, U.S. makers were on show, with products from Alco, Baldwin & Porter, notably a strange 2.4.0 + small 4 wheeled tender. As with other Brazilian "sheds" there were no sides, just a roof.

Finally, leaving the best till last, was the Santos a Jundiai cable railway or inclined planes. Ken visited in the 1980s shortly before the final steam-worked section was electrified.and diverted over a slightly different route. The railway needed to climb a steep escarpment to reach Sao Paulo from the coastal city of Santos. The song tells us "They've got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil", and coffee exports were the line's major traffic. But it was hard work to gain the necessary height, and the 5'3" gauge line had 5 inclined sections at 1 in 12½ (8%) each well over a mile long. We saw curious steam loco-brakes which gripped the cable, products of Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn & Kerr Stewart, and some economical 3-line trackwork with catch points. The cable system, necessarily, had some wonderful Victorian - era winding gear. Efficient overhead - electric trains have now taken over on what Ken (a front passenger on one of the loco-brakes) regards as the most interesting railway in the world !

Many thanks to Ken for unearthing more "hidden gems" and to Graham Kenworthy, the projectionist. (EM)

Meeting Report 5th January 2012 - Chairman's Address
The Chairman's address on 5th January fell to Peter Davies, and the presentation was entitled "Lawrence, Arabia and all that Hedjaz". It was necessary to have an understanding of the region's history and politics, though Peter lightened the evening with some clips from the classic 1960s film - "Lawrence of Arabia".

The Ottoman Empire was in terminal decline in the late 19th century, and the countries we now know as Greece and Romania (for example) had broken away following the Russo-Ottoman Crimean War, leaving them with what we now know as Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia & Syria. When Abdulhamid II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in 1876 he took up the pan-Islamic banner to get the support of his Muslim majority subjects (nothing new there - Ed.). His standing in the Islamic world was based on his position as Cailiph, and the holy city of  Mecca was under Ottoman control. Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives, but the overland route from Damascus to Mecca could take over 40 days and the pilgrims suffered seriously from attacks by Bedouins, disease, extreme heat and the lack of clean drinking water ! A railway would be a great asset !

German influence was at work behind the scenes, but raising the money to build the line was entirely down to worldwide Muslims albeit with a significant pledge from the Sultan etc. A German engineer - H A Meissner - was brought in to oversee the line's construction, which actually began on 1st May 1901. Military conscripts undertook the unskilled work, but foreign workers were employed on such as bridge, station and tunnel building. The line was, perhaps surprisingly, subject to winter flash-flooding.

It was pleasing to learn that very little of the Muslim money for the line's construction was "diverted" to third parties, and we saw how building styles changed from north to south. Rails were supplied by by a number of European & American manufacturers. Steel and wooden sleepers were used, depending on location. However, the line was built to the odd gauge of 1.05M. Unusually, the line opened free from debt and the demands of shareholders. A branch line was built from Dera'a (now in Syria) to Haifa (now on the Israeli coast) to assist the importation of raw materials etc. The train from Damascus to Medina ran 3 times a week, journeys usually took between 3 & 4 days.

Political changes were afoot, and the line was never built beyond Medina, to which point completion had taken place on 1st September 1908. The line never recovered from the combination of Lawrence's guerrilla attacks in 1917/18 (despite the Turks being adept at repairing damage), the emergence of a French-controlled Syria & Transjordan, the British in Palestine and the separate Saudi Arabian state.

Plans to revive the railway after WW2 were agreed by Syria, Jordan & Saudi Arabia, and a British consortium was placed in charge of the project. Although the project was due to be completed in 1968 the growth in air travel and considerable improvements to the road network meant that the railway's reconstruction was uneconomic and it was soon suspended. An occasional enthusiasts' steam service runs twice-weekly between Amman (Jordan) & Damascus.

Although this has really been a historical account, Peter's presentation was lavishly illustrated with photographs of strange locomotives, rolling stock, civil engineering features and long-forgotten wrecked engines etc, all of which made for a thoroughly different and enjoyable evening. (EM)


The Members' Informal Evening on 15th December was full of surprises, both at home and abroad, and proceedings closed just before 10 p.m., more by accident than design !

 First to show was Mike Fordham who brought a friend's DVD shot in Paraguay earlier in the year. The country's infrastructure is, sadly, Third World, with such oddities as bridge without a road. Railway footage showed some rusting boilers, and some impressive Yorkshire Engine Co. exports of the early 1950s, both nothing working. Indeed, it wasn't clear if there was still a rail service at all !

 Arthur Barrett showed part of an A-Z of Steam DVD, which apparently ends with Zimbabwe. It opened with A for A3, and "Flying Scotsman" was prominent on a non-stop run from King's Cross to Edinburgh in 1968, and on its U.S.A. visit in 1969. B was a strange selection with ex-LSWR B4  0.4.0T "Normandy" on the Swanage branch, followed by "Black 5s" in the late 1970s. C was the ex-SECR "C" class 0.6.0 filmed in black & white on a "last day" somewhere on the Southern Region. An undertaker was prominent, a not unusual character at "last days" in the 1960s.

Warren Wordsworth reminded us of Society and other local activites earlier in the year, with the "failed" 8F 48305 on the G.C.R. , 6023 on the Mid-Norfolk Railway and the usual mixed bag on the North Norfolk Railway - 45305, the ex-L.T. Pannier tank, J15 65462, "Flying Pig" 43106 and 92203 "Black Prince".

 Technical problems prevented Robert Scarfe from showing his film of Thetford signalbox next, so Mike Handscomb read an extract from  Nicholas Whittaker's "Platform Souls". He was a train-spotter of the 60s variety and preferred old railway films to slide shows. However, he recalled a visit to Barry scrapyard - the "Elephants' Graveyard" - before anything had been removed, and their unfortunate companion who had his Parka (remember them ?) tied to the strings of a luggage rack  (remember those ?) just before arrival at Cardiff and the ensuing chaos !

John Hutchinson produced an Alpine Railways DVD showing the "Crocodile" electrics before moving to some impressive snow clearance work over the Bernina Pass by the last steam snow-blower retained by Rhaetian Railways (it was used twice in 2009). This route is the highest adhesion railway in the Alps at 7% or 1 in 14 !

During the break Robert Scarfe had managed to fix the problem and we were treated to an excellent session inside Thetford signalbox filmed last November. Thetford will soon lose its rare co-acting signals at the end of the Up platform and the signalman clearly explained offer and acceptance procedures to/from Brandon and Harling Road. As darkness fell a Sandite train, top'n'tailed by Class 37s, made a welcome change from the units. The signalman's helpful commentary gave no hint of his impending redeployment or redundancy.

Edward Mann showed some vintage video of a couple of industrial railways serving the aluminium industry in the Fort William and Kinlochleven areas. Rudimentary trestle bridges passed for civil engineering, even though the Kinlochleven line was electrified @ 500V D.C. Then the film moved to the oil shale mines near Winchburgh, not far from Edinburgh. This 2'6" gauge 4 mile line was Scotland's first electric railway - it closed in 1961.

Malcolm Cooper produced some impressive photos of the Warley Model Railway Show of 2010, especially the Twittering & Oysterperch Railway, though strangely this amazing line was not there in 2011.

 It was now the turn of those with slides, and Ken Mills showed slides of his July 2011 visit to Northern Ireland interspersed with those he took back in 1963. One of the most impressive locos was the Great Southern & Western B1(a) 4.6.0 now preserved at Cultra - one of a class of three which worked the Dublin - Cork services - which Ken also saw on his earlier visit, and which are very similar to "Royal Scots". Seen at Cultra this time was what was effectively a 5'3" gauge L.M.S. 2P 4.4.0 ! He saw some early Irish Republic diesels at the RPSI at Whitehead, one of the well-known "Jeep" 2.6.4Ts, and no. 171 - the Irish equivalent of the J15 !

Peter Adds rounded off proceedings with slides from his 25 years commuting from Hitchin to King's Cross. We saw the layout at Sandy, where the old Cambridge - Bletchley line crossed over, the last Deltic-hauled "Tees-Tyne Pullman" and the line-up of staff, Moorgate services, York Road, and then up to the Settle & Carlisle where the BR Publicity Dept had a HST to play with for a day !
Thanks to Andy Wright for operating the digital projector and to Ian Woodruff for keeping the slide projector moving.
Those present will recall that, at our break, tradition was followed and the needs of the inner man were satisfied by mince pies etc provided by Graham & Joy Kenworthy in return for a donation to the Norwich Night Shelter, otherwise St Martin's Housing Trust.  Though the division of labour remains unclear, Graham & Joy would like to thank everyone for contributing a record sum - "comfortably into 3 figures" - which was much appreciated.


Meeting Report Thursday 1 December 2011
A near-record turnout assembled to hear an extremely well-prepared talk by Paul Hudson.  Known to many members as a Plandampf regular and contributor to past talks on that subject, Paul is a long-standing member of the Welsh Highland Railway and has worked regularly on the working parties restoring the railway to its original southern terminus at Porthmadog.  This put him in a good position to record the progress of the line and the train workings over it.
We were treated to a brief history of the line in its early years, up to closure before World War 2, followed by the machinations of rival groups to secure its reopening, with that backed by the Festiniog Railway being the successful one.  Paul then took us southwards from Caernarfon, following the track of the standard gauge line to Afon Wen as far as Dinas Junction, the original northern terminus.  From there onwards he was able to intersperse shots of the abandoned trackbed, and of the actual restoration process, with those of today’s fully operational railway.  At the south end he included pictures of the rival group’s operation on the trackbed of the old Croesor Tramway, finishing with scenes of the awkward layout at Festiniog, to be the subject of future rebuilding.
The evening was well-researched and held the attention throughout.  Our thanks to Paul and also to the projection crew, for whom this was an especially challenging evening, with frequent changes from slides to digital and back.

Meeting Report Thursday 17 November 2011
On 17th November the Beachy Head Project was explained to us by Paul Curson. Ken Mills reports.
You would be forgiven for thinking, from the title of the talk, that it concerned the building of a huge concrete wall in front of the
famous headland to prevent it crumbling into the English Channel. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, and it related
to the construction of a new-build steam locomotive which bore the same name.
Paul commenced with the official reason why the 4.4.2. wheel arrangement of a steam locomotive had acquired the name
"Atlantic". This was, apparently, due to the 1894-built Baldwin engines of the same wheel arrangement which worked on the
Atlantic Coast Line, a railway on the eastern seaboard of the U.S.A.
We then learned something of the life of the designer of the renowned "Brighton Atlantics", Douglas Earle Marsh. Born in Norfolk
in 1862, educated at Brighton College and University College, London, he joined the Great Northern Railway in 1895 as Assistant
Mechanical Engineer to the famed Harry Ivatt at Doncaster Works. Here, he assisted with building of the 22 GNR "Small"
Atlantics (LNER Class C2) during 1898-1903 and enjoyed a couple of years on the construction of the "Large" Atlantics (94
engines of LNER Class C1 1902-1910) before accepting the chance to become Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London,
Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) in November 1904.
Armed with several borrowed drawings from Doncaster, Marsh lost no time in ordering a batch of 5 Atlantics for his new
employers from Kitsons of Leeds in 1905. It was no surprise, therefore, that the 5 engines for the LB&SCR closely resembled
their GNR forebears. The new additions were allocated the LBSCR numbers 37 - 41 (SR 2037 - 2041 as class H1) (BR 32037 -
32041 Class H1) and featured larger cylinders and higher boiler pressure than their GNR counterparts. Five years later, a second batch of 6 Atlantics were built using LBSCR numbers 421 - 426 (SR 2421 - 2426 class H2) (BR 32421 - 32426 class H2) employing greater heating surfaces in the boiler and again a slight increase in cylinder size produced a healthy tractive effort of 24,520 lbs. 
While the H1 class locos were all withdrawn by 1951, 5 of the 6 class H2's survived until 1956.  However 32424 (named "Beachy Head" by the SR in the mid-1920s ) hung on (and operated several "special" trains in the meantime) until cut up at Eastleigh in April 1958, despite a last-ditch attempt to purchase the locomotive privately.
So ...end of story ? Fast forward to 1986…
With the preservation movement getting into its stride, a group of enthusiasts - working on a rumour - discovered four former GNR locomotive boilers in industrial use at a sawmill in Maldon, Essex. After some examination, two of the boilers were found to be from the GN "Large" Atlantics,
and one of these two had only been used for no more than two years. Silver crossed palms, and the latter boiler was delivered to the Bluebell Railway in 1987. Since 1991, the "Manston" group of enthusiasts were known to possess a spare tender frame from an old C2X 0.6.0., but suitable for an Atlantic. In 1995, after much wrangling, a cheque was drawn and the Bluebell received another birthday present.
The key pieces of the jigsaw were now starting to fall into place. At a meeting in August 2001 it was decided that the "Beachy
Head" project should be got under way along with some promised sponsorship. An early requirement was a shed building large
enough to accommodate a locomotive, tender, boiler and frames separately. A two-road kit-built depot was delivered in
September 2005 and erected by a society member by March 2006. A small drawing office was situated within the depot to house
all the "paper-trail" documentation required by law for new constructions. Basic equipment such as a milling machine, a lathe and
pulley-blocks were obtained second-hand, while small items like the regulator handle , whistle, shed plate and class plate were
donated. The frame plates (1¾ tons each) had been cast, cut and delivered from Corus Steel in 2004.
York Railway Museum provided the locomotive drawings and over 700 individual plans were copied by the members of the
project group. Paul showed us pictures of a selection of locomotive parts already acquired, reminding me of a No. 10 Meccano
set waiting to be bolted together, with the cylinder block being an especially complicated piece of engineering. Project policy was
to fabricate the small jobs in-house but sending away the larger and more complex work to the professionals. Bogie wheels were
at Rileys in Lancashire, while the 6'7½" diameter driving wheels would go to Pridhams. As the LBSCR was a Westinghousebraked
railway, it was hoped that the necessary pump and brake gear could be tackled locally.
Finishing up with questions from the audience, we found out that the new Brighton Atlantic No. 32424 "Beachy Head" would
hopefully be in steam within five years , and that it was envisaged that as the engine would be working only on preservation lines
the project would not be be seeking "main-line" authorisation.
A hearty vote of thanks completed the evening along with best wishes for the project's successful finale.
_
Meeting Report Thursday 3 November 2011
Jill Wright gave an illustrated presentation entitled ‘Return to Indian Railways’
Being married to not only a keen railway enthusiast but also one of the Norfolk Railway Society’s most dearly-loved members until
his tragic death two years ago was always going to be a challenge for Jill Wright. But clearly David’s love of railways was shared
by his wife, in spirit if not in minute detail, and this evening Jill came to tell us of not one but two railway-based expeditions she
had made since her husband’s passing.
In the first half of the evening Jill recounted a visit to north-east India made in November 2010, to fulfil a life-long dream to revisit
the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Eschewing a railway-themed package holiday for a more ‘mainstream’ tour, her visit to India
began in Calcutta, a city seen to be teeming with buses, trams, rickshaws, taxis (mostly LPG-fuelled) and motorcycles. Her hotel
was a large floating edifice on the Hooghly River. Many buildings dating from the days of the Raj remain. Moving on to Kurseong,
we saw the HQ of the Darjeeling line, and also the congested hillside town of Darjeeling. Sadly the weather was not too kind to
Jill’s party, and the lower part of the line proved impossible to traverse due to storm damage to a bridge, however we did get to
see a couple of the vintage Sharp Stewart locos in use. A total of 34 of these machines were originally supplied to the Railway
between 1889 and 1925, but only a dozen or so remain on the line in various states of repair or disrepair. A number of diesels
have taken over some of the duties, notably on the lower section. Various experiments with oil-firing and railbuses proved to be
less than successful, and were quickly abandoned.
Since 1999 the DHR has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is operated by Indian Railways, with assistance
from a local railway society. While not all of the famous loops and switchbacks remain in use today, there was still plenty for Jill
to admire and enjoy during her trip over the legendary line between Kurseong, the summit at Ghum, and Darjeeling. At all of the
settlements traversed by the line street running is commonplace, and hence the locos have very loud horns which sound almost
continuously to warn locals of the advance of one of the 2 daily trains. Indeed, one fact not mentioned by Jill but gleaned from
Wikipedia is that “people with sensitive ears (especially foreigners from countries that are more quiet than India) should wear ear
protection while riding the train”!
After the coffee break we moved from India to Canada, for a journey from Vancouver to Toronto undertaken in May this year.
Some impressive aerial views of Vancouver opened proceedings, including the massive freight yards down by the water’s edge.
The present Vancouver station is a vast modern affair, but the original station building still survives, along with the former halfroundhouse,
as a shopping and restaurant complex. A steam loco stands on display outside the former roundhouse.
The journey she undertook was on the tracks of the Canadian National Railway, along the North Thompson River, to Jasper via
the Yellowhead Pass. Everything seen was on a massive scale – from the jaw-dropping scenery of the Rockies, the huge
double-deck container trains, the sheer length of the journey, to the length of the passenger train itself. Jill didn’t miss the
opportunity to ride part of the journey in one of the dome-roofed tourist carriages.
Passing into Prairie country and through Edmonton and Winnipeg, Toronto was eventually reached on day five. A visit was made
to the railway museum in a former roundhouse, ending up – as so many tourists to the city do – looking down from Toronto’s most
famous building, the CN Tower, reminding us that the ‘CN’ refers to the Canadian National Railway, on whose land the edifice
was built.
An exhausting trip around the world, which was warmly appreciated by the large audience in attendance. (Gordon Bruce)

Meeting Report Thursday 6 October 2011
A large audience gathered for Donald Wilson's presentation on Modern Wanderings in South America. Our Chairman had first met Donald on one of Hugh Ballantyne's famous railtours, and it transpired that Donald had visited no less than 55 countries.

Argentina is the sub-continent's second-largest country and its railways date back to the 1860s, usually built to assist agricultural development. At their peak they covered some 27,000 miles, with about two-thirds 5'6" gauge, one-third metre gauge, about 1,500 miles standard gauge and a little 2'6" gauge in Patagonia. Apart from its railways, Buenos Aires has the only South American underground system (with a surface level depot so "underground" cars can be seen in the streets), and although most of its trams were dispensed with in the 1960s, a minor resurgence has occurred. The infrastructure is comfortingly British, reflecting past investment in the systems, but outside the suburbs services can be very infrequent, maybe weekly, because of the vast distances and airline domination. Donald travelled the line from Esquel to Jacobacci behind its two steam locomotives - a Baldwin and a Henschel - experienced a tender derailment, and a freezing night on the train awaiting rescue, was sold a "child" ticket for the adult fare by an unscrupulous Stationmaster and had his bags ransacked by a "reformed" hotel clerk but generally seemed to enjoy himself amongst very friendly people.

The civilisation of Argentina gave way to the high mountains of Ecuador and the Guayaquil & Quito Railway, which had some very impressive climbing over the Andes, past "The Devil's Nose", spectacular views, spindly viaducts and reversals to gain height. Railway officials enabled him to jump the long queue and sit in the seat of his choosing without regard to its prior (rightful ?) occupant ! Ecuador was, apparently, the last country to allow roof-riding on its railways ! Travel was in diesel railbuses, not unlike those seen in Ireland 50 years ago, but the company had acquired some French articulated Bo-Bos in the 1960 for freight work.

And so to Paraguay where "Third World" is all that can really be said. This was the last all-steam country in the world with some of its British (Neilson) locomotives past their century. Some of the civil engineering did not inspire confidence !

A thoroughly entertaining evening, and we hope Donald will return to share some more of his travels with us.


Thenew season of NRS meetings began on Thursday 15 September with a members' round-up of 2011.  It began with Mike Fordham's record shots of the party at Tata Steelworks at Scunthorpe on Sunday 17th July.  Graham Kenworthy then took us to Italy, more precisely the Genoa area. Genoa boasts a very imposing station; the electrified coast line south-eastwards towards La Spezia seemed very busy using double-deck stock and huge mosaics were to be seen.
John Hanchet took us slightly further afield, to Czechoslovakia showing Prague's numerous trams, the imposing Skoda "475" class 4.8.2., and to Austria with a charter and some delightful turn of the 20th century steam locos with carriages to match. "Britannia" and 43106 at the NNR also featured.
Peter Willis and Arthur Barrett both showed DVD/video of the Welsh Highland Railway, now open between Porthmadog and Caernarfon and gratifyingly busy before Arthur moved to Derbyshire to explore the various tunnels converted to cycleways between Rowsley and Miller's Dale on the former Midland route through the Peak District which closed to passengers in 1968. It was good to see how much had been spent to achieve this. Arthur rounded off at the multi-gauge Ryedale Miniature Rail Gala in North Yorkshire.
Peter Allison had been to the NRM "outstation" at Shildon, which seemed much-improved since my visit a few years ago. Notable was the unrestored "Turkish" 8F. Chris Mitchell took us on a tour of the signal boxes from Wymondham South Junction  to Ely, which are due for early replacement, then to Falsgrave (Scarborough) now minus its famous signal gantry, and to the Fawley Hill Railway which we visited a couple of years ago. Robert Scarfe had been chasing black-liveried 70000 "Britannia" across East Anglia before Gerald Siviour concluded proceedings with slides of the "King" on the MNR, our visit to the Wells & Walsingham Light Railway, "Princess Elizabeth" on the "Scarborough Spa Express", the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and the recently-opened Ecclesbourne Valley Railway in Derbyshire.
Thanks to all who gave us an absorbing evening, and to Andy Wright our projectionist.

Below are reports of meetings earlier in 2011