Imperial College Railway Society

The Imperial College Railway Society (ICRS) is a society of the Imperial College Union (ICU) open to all current undergraduate and postgraduate students, staff, associate members of Imperial College London and alumni.

Catering for all railway interests – the modern scene, steam, narrow gauge, model and miniature, UK and overseas - the ICRS only started in its current form in February 2005 but has an illustrious past. The original society was formed in 1946 and continued into the 1970s. Many big names in the rail industry have been associated with the club over the years.

The society meets once a month for official engagements such as talks and visits but smaller scale trips to railway-themed pubs are also a feature of the calendar.

History

At the end of 1945, three students of Imperial College got together and decided there was a place for a Railway Society. The names of these three were Robert Youell (at the time, a postgrad in the Royal College of Science), Michael Pool and Victor Goldberg (City and Guilds College).

The Social Clubs Committee (SCC) of the Imperial College Union was approached with the proposal to form a Railway Society, and early in 1946 on the 21st February, an inaugural meeting was held. This was rather too well attended and in consequence several 'sporty types' were on the first committee, but their resignations were to hand before serious work started.

Dr. Youell (as he later became), was the first secretary proper, Michael Pool the Chairman, Ramsay Makar, Hon. Treasurer, while Victor Goldberg was Vice-Chairman. With no activities of earlier years to guide them and railway enthusiast activities in Britain at a low ebb (facilities for tours and visits had been completely withdrawn during the war), the secretary's task was not easy.

Mr. B.G. Manton of the Civil Engineering Staff was the first President and gave great help with several professional contacts, many of them old students, and their names were to become closely linked with the Society for many years, amongst them Messrs. A. Dean, E.C. Cookson and O.S. Nock in particular. Nevertheless, many of the secretary's early approaches were to receive only tardy replies (if any at all) and some time was to elapse before a sound foundation for the programme could be built. Among the early speakers were such names as George Dow and L.G.B. Rock of the Southern Railway while, during the acute power cuts of early 1947, Mr. C.E. Lee spoke (to the embarrassment of the Committee) to an audience of about four.

It seems that during the 1950s and 1960s the ICRS was a popular social club and many interesting visits and lectures were arranged, the name of Imperial College often being used to collar some big names in the rail industry.

However, by the late 1970s it seems that the Railway Society had had its day. Perhaps this reflected wider trends in society, the run-down of the UK rail system, the end of steam - nobody knows for sure. By 1983 the society had disappeared off the Union books seemingly for good and there ended the history of the ICRS, mark one.

The revival

In 2003 a member of staff at Imperial College, Kim Winter, came across three photos and a caption in John Stretton's book: Festiniog Railway in Camera One Hundred years 1871-1971

"23rd April 1957. On this day, members of the Imperial College Railway Society took a train comprising diesel MOELWYN and a handful of wagons as far as Moelwyn Tunnel, inspecting the route and recovering whatever might be useful to the railway, this time from the northern end of the tunnel, before tracks were finally lifted there."

Kim and colleague John Barnes, both keen Narrow Gauge supporters and volunteers at the Ffestiniog Railway, decided to attempt a revival. By chance, contact was made with an interested student, David Horton, and together an inaugural lecture was organised.

This first meeting took place on 24th February 2005 (almost 59 years to the day since the first one) and the guest speaker was Mr. Adrian Shooter, former Managing Director (now Chairman) of Chiltern Railways, one of the most successful products of rail privatisation. Approximately 15 students, 10 staff and 30 alumni of the original society were in attendance. Among them was Mr. Victor Goldberg, original co-founder. The opportunity was quickly taken to invite Mr. Shooter to become the first President which he accepted.

External links

*Official|http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/railway