Solent [SOE]
Welcome to the Solent Branch page.
The Branch meets on the third Wednesday of the month from September until May at 19:30.
Junction Church
(Formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute)
2 Romsey Road,
Eastleigh, SO50 9FE
PLEASE NOTE: THERE IS NOW A £2 CHARGE FOR PARKING IN THE CAR PARK OPPOSITE THE CHURCH. THIS COVERS 18:00 UNTIL 08:00 THE NEXT MORNING. YOU CAN PAY BY CASH, CARD OR RINGO.
Please note: The room we use is not accessible as it is on the first floor and there is no lift.
We ask for a donation from all attendees to defray the costs of the room and speaker. RCTS and Mid Hants Railway Members £4 , Visitors £5 (as agreed at Solent Branch AGM - January 2026).
In June and July we usually have an observation evening at a Railway Station.
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The Branch attended the Narrow Gauge South Exhibition at Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh SO50 5BX on Saturday 25th April 2026 . https://www.narrowgaugesouth.co.uk We had for sale a range of RCTS publications.
What's on
Venues
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Meeting reports
Arlington Works Visit
The annual visit by the RCTS to Eastleigh Works took place this morning. Fortunately it was not too hot. I asked for a stock list and was told that whilst…
Observation at Eastleigh
5 members and guests gathered at Eastleigh station on the afternoon and early evening of 17th June for the Solent Branch’s annual observation evening. There were no unusual workings and…
A Travelogue and a Bruce Oliver Retrospective
The late unavailability of the booked speaker for our May meeting led to a last minute change to the programme with substitutes being provided by our colleagues at the Chichester…
South Wales in Transition
The speaker at the April meeting of the Solent Branch was Jeremy Segrott who gave a presentation on South Wales in Transition. This covered the period from 2016 to the…
Tracks in the Mist 2
Colin Brading returned to the Solent Branch in March to give a second talk on “Tracks in the Mist”, the title referring to long-lost railways. The first line looked at…
Swiss Railways A-Z Part 2
Steve Ollive made a return visit to the Solent branch in February to continue his A – Z of Swiss Railways, this time focussing on those beginning with the letters…
The Railways of South Wales
We welcomed Stephen Bigley to our January meeting to give a talk on the Railways of South Wales. A quick look at a map of South Wales in the pre-grouping…
15 in 15
Our meeting on 17 December followed the traditional format of 15 minute presentations by members. Ian Knight began the proceedings illustrating visits he made to Ireland in the late 1990s…
Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
We welcomed Mike Pearce to our meeting on 19th November to give a talk on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway. This was incorporated under its own Act of Parliament in…
Railways of Southampton
The speaker at our October meeting was Gordon Adams on the subject of the railways of Southampton. The London & Southampton Railway obtained its Act of Parliament in 1834 Trains…
East – West Journey (UK)
Our September meeting was a journey from Ipswich to Nuneaton using four videos filmed by branch member Philip Haines between 2012 and 2020. At Ipswich we saw Liverpool Street –…
Cardiff and the Valleys Observation Day
On Wednesday 16th July 2025 the Solent Branch had an observation day in the Cardiff Valleys. Starting from Romsey at 06:59 five of us travelled to Cardiff where we spent…
Arlington Works Visit
On a very hot Saturday 19 members took a toor around the Arlington Works in Eastleigh. There was an array of locomotives, coaches and wagons ranging from old to new.…
Observation Evening at Eastleigh
9 members gathered at Eastleigh station on the afternoon and early evening of 18th June for the Solent Branch’s annual observation evening. The 2024 report referred to a number of…
Railtours, Specials and Unusual Workings – Part 1
We welcomed John Day from Ipswich to our May meeting to give an illustrated talk on 40 years of raltours and special and unusual workings. The first tour illustrated was…
The Great Train Robbery
We welcomed Ian Bosket to our April meeting to give a talk on The Great Train Robbery. The robbery involved Wednesday 7 August’s 18:50 Glasgow Central – Euston postal service,…
Tracks in the Mist
Our March meeting was a presentation by Colin Brading entitled “Tracks in the Mist”, meaning long – lost railways. The first line looked at was the Brill Tramway in the…
A- Z of Swiss Railways (Part 1)
We welcomed Steve Ollive to our February meeting to give the first part of his trilogy A- Z of Swiss Railways. This instalment covered the three main Swiss operators and…
Chemin de fer du Provence
The January meeting of the Solent Branch on 15 January began with the branch’s annual general meeting. The Committee elected for the coming year were John Godfrey (Chairman), Denis Horsman…
15 in 15
Our December meeting followed the now traditional format of 15 minute presentations by members. John Goodrich opened the proceedings with images of passing trains ranging from easily obtained photos of…
Railways in the UK
The November meeting of the Solent branch was a presentation by branch member Philip Haines illustrating the sea wall in the Dawlish in different eras. Familiar locations illustrated included Starcross,…
Train Ferries of WW1 and WW2
We were pleased to welcome Gordon Adams from Reading to our October meeting to give a presentation on train ferries of World War 1 and 2. By 1916 the army…
Changing Trains in the 1980’s
Our first meeting of the 2024/25 season was held on 18 September when we returned to our former venue of the Eastleigh Railway Institute building for Keith Butcher’s presentation on…
Observation Day – Cardiff & the Valleys
“Take the long way home” Wednesday 24th July 2024 saw 5 members of the Solent Branch and one MHR visitor travel to Cardiff with a view to exploring the Valley…
Eastleigh Observation Evening
8 members and 3 guests attended the informal Solent Branch observation evening on 19 June. In the period 14:55 to 18:45 nine freights were seen. The 5 Freightliner workings were…
Arlington Works Visit
On an overcast and windy Saturday 20 members and 2 visitors spent a couple of hours walking around the works. It was a very interesting visit with the regular guides…
Southern England in the Early 1990’s
For our May meeting member Mark Greening took us back to the early 1990s in the South of England. He began by looking at passenger services where slam door emus…
Swindon – The Origin
Our April meeting was the first to be held at our new temporary venue of Junction Church, Eastleigh. We were pleased to welcome the Society’s President, Reverend Canon Brian Arman…
Railway Miscellany
The March meeting was a presentation by Tony Storey with the title “Railway Miscellany” in which he visited a number of heritage railways. The first part of the talk surveyed…
Leatherhead Station & Stationmasters House
We welcomed Andy Davies, Chief Archivist of the RCTS to our February meeting to speak about the history of Leatherhead station and the station master’s house, and the RCTS library…
Railways of the Past Part 2
The January meeting of the Solent Branch on 17 January began with the branch’s annual general meeting. The Committee elected for the coming year were John Godfrey (Chairman), Denis Horsman…
15 in 15
Our December meeting consisted of members’ slides and digital images with contributions from 10 members. The evening began with Philip Haines showing videos taken on the branch observation evening at…
Northern Trains
The November meeting of the Solent branch was a series of videos filmed by branch member Philip Haines under the title “Northern Trains”, this being used to refer to the…
Grumpies, Goggles, Vectrons and a whole lot more!
The October meeting was a presentation by the branch Chairman, John Godfrey, of Central and Eastern European counties under the title Grumpies, Goggles, Vectrons and many more. To explain the…
The Development of Eastleigh
Our first meeting of the 2023/24 season was held on 20 September which began with the sad news of the passing of former branch Treasurer Mike Green on 31 August.…
Reading Observation Evening
RCTS Solent Branch – Reading Observation session – 19/07/23 (15:00-19:30) The Solent Branch held an observation at Reading station with four branch members attending along with a representative from the…
Arlington Works visit
On a very warm Saturday 27 members and 2 visitors spent a couple of hours walking around the works. It was a very interesting visit with the regular guides Reg…
Observation Evening Eastleigh
The Solent Branch held its annual observation evening at Eastleigh station on Wednesday 21 June when 11 members and 2 guests assembled from 16:00. The peak period of activity for…
Back to where it all started
Branch member John Goodrich concluded our 2022/23 season of indoor meetings on 17 May taking us on a journey from Southampton, where he has lived since 1969, to his former…