IAN CROWDER - “The Forgotten Standard”. Ian Crowder is Marketing Director of Toddington Standard Locomotive Ltd (TSLL), owners of Standard Class 4 2-6-0 No. 76077 and which is nearing the end of its restoration for use on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway. In this two-part lavishly-illustrated presentation, he firstly describes the development of the Standard…
Sadly, this visit has had to be cancelled, but we may try again at some time during 2026 - watch this space! A visit has been organised to the Avanti West Coast Training Academy in Crewe for Wednesday 29th October 2025, from 15:00 to 17:00 hours, to see the facilities there. As well as the…
'My life on the railways, from Willesden and Wembley, to North Pole and Temple Mills.' This will be a presentation of how I got interested in the railways at a young age and went on to have a 41-year career on British Rail and Eurostar. There are plenty of pictures in the presentation. Please note…
Another chance for Watford Branch members to show off your prowess with a camera (but don’t worry about the quality, feel the width!) – stills or videos, film or digital *. Please bring along some 35mm slides or image files on a memory stick or DVD disc and we’ll endeavour to treat everyone to your…
‘The Ramblings of a Railwayman’, an Illustrated Talk by Geoff Burch. During ‘The Ramblings of a Railwayman’ Geoff initially talks about his first interest in railways as a train spotter at various locations including London Motive Power Depots. Following his first visit to a footplate of a steam locomotive and having spoken to the crew,…
‘The 14 lines of the Paris Métro - Celebrating 125 years’, by Brian Hardy. This will show how the Métro has developed over the years, along with its trains and stations. Further details may be added nearer the date. Please note this is a Virtual Zoom Meeting. There is no charge for this meeting, but…
Steve Batty heads south again to present 'From the Back of the Cupboard', because it's made up of B&W shots he has always ignored before when putting a show together, but which he thinks really deserve a viewing. It also made him wonder why B&W gets ignored so much, so made the show entirely B&W. …
Branch AGM, followed by: JASON CROSS - 'Railways from Both Sides of the Fence' - A slide show by a GBRf employee which includes an overview of joining the company, a detailed look at the Old Dalby test track and at other roles performed at other locations. This is then followed by a selection of…
KEITH BLACKSHAW, who is an Inspector of Rail Accidents, presents ‘An introduction to the RAIB’ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch). Further details will be added nearer the date. Please note this is a physical meeting, doors open from 18:30 for a 19:00 start, with a half-time break for refreshments, and we aim to finish around 21:30.
RICHARD MORRIS – Two separate talks tonight, the first half - ‘Inter-City 125 High Speed Trains’. These iconic trains were launched onto the BR Network in 1976 and could be found across large parts of the country for nearly 50 years. This presentation is an enthusiast’s view of our High-Speed Trains. The second half -…
Chris Green tells the story of his long career on the railways - where he had a profound impact in all the various sectors that he headed over the years. This promises to be a very interesting evening! Further details may be added nearer the date. Please note this is a physical meeting, doors open from…
Stehen Gay returns to the Watford Branch for his eleventh visit, this time to present 'Through Kirton Tunnel, Part 2'. The first part took us from Sheffield to Kirton Lindsey and we now continue through Kirton Tunnel and onwards to Cleethorpes in Stephen's inimitable style! Further details may be added nearer the date. Please note…
