ISSUE Number 73 ‘Lockdown Three Ahead?’ th WATFORD BRANCH NEWSLETTER Issue Date – 4 January 2021 From the Chairman elcome to this month’s issue of the Watford Branch Newsletter, the first for 2021, though this may be a little W later in the month than usual as this has been a rather busy period with little spare time to devote to the Newsletter…. Your committee hopes that everyone remains safe and well and that you were all able to make the most of Christmas and the New Year celebrations (!?), within the rather strict Covid regulations that had to be introduced at short notice. This meant that almost everybody’s plans for the festive season had to be hastily rearranged with very little warning, unfortunately this may have resulted in many people spending the day on their own, if so, you weren’t the only one! The Covid situation seems to be escalating with the new strain taking the country by storm, the vast majority of England now being in Tier 4 and other parts of the UK back in lockdown, though there seems little difference between Tier 4 and lockdown in any case. It certainly looks like these restrictions, or even stricter ones, may be in place to try and contain the situation until the new vaccines are rolled out to enough people to start to alleviate things – this is going to take a considerable time even if the logistics run relatively smoothly. Accordingly, we will be continuing to hold our monthly branch meetings virtually, via Zoom, as per usual on the first Tuesday of each month, starting with the branch AGM, followed by Rob Freeman’s presentation ‘Gems from the Casserley Photo Collection’, on 5th January. December’s meeting was the traditional ‘Members’ Presentations’ and we certainly had some treats, though we had to supply our own mince pies, sausage rolls and festive drink – at least Lizzie Davidson had an easier time than is usual at this meeting (thanks for her efforts in the past, and hopefully again in the future)! A short report of this meeting should appear soon in the RO and is already posted as the full version on the Watford Branch pages of the RCTS website at: https://rcts.org.uk/watford/meeting-reports/ this also includes a couple of the photos shown by Mike Watson (see below) – thanks to Mike and other presenters for a very entertaining evening. If you are planning to join any of the Zoom meetings, there is now a new way of pre-registering for them, directly on the RCTS website at: https://rcts.org.uk/branches/ and scroll down to ‘Virtual Meetings’ for all branches’ meetings. These also appear on the home page. You will need to be logged-in as a member to access the links, these are also on the relevant branch events page, such as this one on the Watford Branch page: https://rcts.org.uk/watford/events/ If you are already a member but haven’t registered on the site it’s advisable to do so – if you run into any problems, please contact David Jackman at: [email protected] If you are a non-member or visitor you are very welcome to join the meetings – please contact Rob Davidson at [email protected] for details, or the relevant officer of the branch concerned. You may notice that there is now a ‘donations are welcome’ link on the events pages of the branches too – this takes you to a PayPal page where you can donate in units of £2.00 – you do not need to have a PayPal account and other payment options are also available. Any donations go to the branch concerned, via ‘Head Office’, and will help to defray costs, some of which continue even though we cannot have physical meetings, meaning the usual source of donations has dried-up. Thanks to those of you who have already made donations to the branch. A considerable number of branches are now holding their meetings via ‘Zoom’ – this means that on some nights there is a clash and choices have to be made – this is due to most branches continuing to hold their meetings on their traditional night – this was not a concern when meetings were physical in different parts of the country but is becoming something of a problem when anyone from anywhere can join any meeting. If you haven’t joined one of these meetings as yet, perhaps through worries about the technology, there is a simple guide available on the RCTS website (thanks to Jeremy Harrison of the Croydon & South London Branch) which can be accessed at: https://rcts.org.uk/croydon/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2020/07/Zoom-Simple-Meeting- Instructions_V3.pdf there is no need to be logged-in as a member in order to read this guide. You will be made most A Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with The Charities Commission. Registered number 1169995. welcome at a meeting and helped out if you still have queries or misgivings. We look forward to seeing you all, members, non-members, visitors, and guests! Many thanks to David Jackman for setting-up and running these meetings on everyone’s behalf. Those of you who have membership subscriptions including the hard copy of the RO should have received January 2021’s issue before Christmas – if you haven’t received it this may indicate that you haven’t renewed your membership as yet. If this is an oversight, you can renew via the website at: https://rcts.org.uk/renew/ Below: Sample Images from Mike Watson’s presentation shown at the December 2020 meeting. Above Left: Ex-JZ Class 33 2-10-0 No. 33-248 just coming out of Bukinje depot, near Tuzla, Bosnia, on 10th June 2014. Note the obligatory lookout on the bufferbeam step. This loco is assigned to the Kreka mine (Rudnici Kreka). The engine is a former Deutsche Reichsbahn Class 52 'Kriegslok', No. 52 4779, built by MBA (formerly Orenstein & Koppel) No. 13830 of 1943. Above Right: The same loco is seen at the Kreka mine (Rudnici Kreka), in the yard at the coal processing plant, alongside a Class 62 USATC S100 Type 0-6-0T. Photos Copyright © Mike Watson. We have the usual mix of articles this month, again mainly from the same few members - if you would like to contribute to future issues, please do get in touch with Geoff Plumb at [email protected] – thanks in anticipation, and thanks to those who have contributed this time once again. Due to time pressures, I have not been able to include the next episode of the 1973 World Steam trip to Java, this will continue next month – with luck! Wishing all our members, visitors and guests the very best for the New Year, let’s hope things improve during 2021 and that everyone remains safe and well! Geoff Plumb, Chairman, RCTS Watford Branch *********************************************************** Member Leon Winsky sent in this steamy photo – thanks to Leon. Left: Stanier LMS 'Princess Royal' Class 4-6-2 No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth pauses at West Hampstead (Overground) station whilst working 1Z82, the 08:43 'The Cathedrals Express' from London Victoria to Norwich at 09:24¼ on Friday 11th November 2016, hence the poppies on the headboard and bufferbeam. Photo Copyright © Leon Winsky. Page | 2 THE AUSTRALIAN NEW SOUTH WALES XPT, by Rob Freeman As HSTs have been very much in the news recently, having been withdrawn from Great Western and East Coast main line operation, I thought you might like to see some of my photos of the export version, which is also due for replacement. The XPT (Express Passenger Train) is the flagship of the limited long-distance train services that remain in NSW. There are many differences from our own HSTs, the most obvious being the extra equipment (eg for air conditioning) on the roof, making them taller. The power cars-built under licence in Australia- are also 50cm shorter. The Paxman Valenta engine was downrated to 2,000hp(replaced by a Paxman VP185 from the year 2000) and the train has a maximum speed of 160km/h, though there are not many stretches where this can be achieved! On test 193km/h has been achieved (they were aiming for 200!) The Mark 3 coach was not suitable for Australian railway conditions, so the trailers are based on a Budd design. The trains are maintained in Sydney, at Meeks Road depot. There are just 19 power cars numbered XP2000-2018 and sixty trailers, built in batches from 1981-1994. So this means you can’t expect to roll up and see one every few minutes as was the norm in this country! Careful reading of the timetable is necessary when photographing them. Each day there are pairs of services from Sydney ,south to Melbourne, west to Dubbo, north to Brisbane and part-way north to Grafton/Casino. So, the best place to see them for the first time is Sydney Central as all services arrive or start there, but out in the country if you miss one, you will have to come back tomorrow! The train is treated like hauled stock, in that coaches can be added or removed according to demand. When only a few coaches are needed just one power car can be used, though I never witnessed this myself. The power cars were all named after places served by the XPT, but the names have now been removed. And so to some photos: Below: Like our own HSTs, the XPT has carried different liveries over the decades.