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LMSS Masthead

Fostering Interest in Research & Modelling of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway

Glynn Patrick Waite

1943 - 2021

Photo of Glynn Patrick Waite

Glynn photographed in 2014 on a visit to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway on a fact-finding mission.
Photo courtesy of David Geldard.

Glynn was born in Cromford and held a lifelong affection for his home county. His primary education was in the town and he then moved on to grammar school in Wirksworth. He left school at sixteen and took up employment with British Railways in the Trains Office at Derby, a dream job for a keen railway enthusiast who started serious trainspotting when he was just nine years old.

After twelve years of experience in widely differing departments he moved on to TOPS (Total Operations Processing System) work and from 1988 took on senior leadership roles for the Railfreight Distribution sector of the industry. Having taken an offered redundancy package in 1994 only three weeks elapsed before he was asked back as a consultant to manage aspects of TOPS work during the process of privatisation, continuing until 2005 with particular reference to Freightliner Heavy Haul. Whilst working with BR he qualified as a Member of the Chartered Institute of Transport & Logistics and gained an M.Sc. in Transport & Logistics Management.

Glynn met his wife Angela in 1964 and, despite an early date turning out to be a walk up the Cromford & High Peak incline, they married in 1967 and had two children Jonathan and Vicky. His employment entailed working from many locations and necessitated the family moving out of Derbyshire, first to Nantwich, then to Bridgend and finally, in 1979, to Sheffield. Wherever Glynn went he joined a local football team; he continued playing into his 50's, the highlight being a full season with Matlock Town F.C.

His main leisure interests, however, were Derbyshire local history and, of course, the railways. These led him to be a keen collector, of postcards, ephemera and (needless to say) tickets. His railway collection concentrated on tickets from and to stations in Derbyshire, this was extensive and covered all periods. Other modes of transport within the county were also covered - trams (including the notable Matlock Cable Tramway) and buses. But Glynn was much more than a collector, he was a noted historian, an author and a hard worker.

Glynn's research was assiduous, wide-ranging and outstanding and was always backed up by meticulous notes. It started with his early days in the Trains Office, with the recording of entries that still throw a fascinating light on many events that were particularly relevant to tickets of the Midland railway. It took him frequently to The National Archives, particularly to search Midland Railway staff records with the results of much of that work now being available online via Ancestry. It took him to local record offices and other archives and led him to become an adviser to the BBC on railway programmes fronted by Michael Portillo, Ian Hislop and Pete Waterman and a setter of questions for Mastermind.

His contribution to the TTS was significant. He served as a Committee member from 1972 to 1986, was Rail Editor of Journal from 1976 to 1979 and was elected as President for 1977/78. His other Journal contributions were extensive and he was author of the Society's publication Station and Agency Code Numbers and Letters that was published in sections, commencing in January 1982; work that has now been completed for the pre-grouping period through the Talking Tickets column from 2011 to 2018.

Glynn became chairman of the Midland Railway Society when that body was re-constituted in 1995, serving for ten years during most of which he also edited MRS Journal. He served as a Trustee for the Roy F Burrows Midland Collection Trust from 2000 to 2006 and was instrumental in the formation of the Midland Railway Study Centre when the MRS and RFBMCT combined with Derby Museums to create that research facility in 2004. He enjoyed the auction scene and assisted Sheffield Railwayana Auctions, Paddington Ticket Auctions and Great Central Railwayana Ltd. He was a volunteer for the National Railway Museum, working on the cataloguing of photographic negatives. He was a founder of The Rowsley Association and a prolific writer for them, both in their Newsletter and of stand-alone books.

Glynn will be missed by so many organisations, but most of all by his family and we extend our sincere condolences to Angela, Jonathan, Vicky and his four grandchildren.

David Geldard

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