Midland Main Line Electrification - Matt Parkin
2025-09-23 14:00 - 16:30 (Europe/London) | EMD Nottingham, The New Mechanics, 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham, NG1 4EZ, United Kingdom
Matt Parkin (Contractors Engineering Manager for the MMLE Electrification from Kettering to Wigston) from SPL Powerlines UK (SPL) will present a lecture about the challenges and innovation for new electrification schemes

1125 & DEMU's 0ver the Alps (Watercress Line)
2025-09-24 19:15 - 21:30 | CHR Bassil Shippam Centre, Tozer Way, St Pancras, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 7LG, United Kingdom
The talk covers the development of the Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) by the Southern Region, the link between them and the Mid Hants route (1957 to 1973), and the history of our (Watercress Line) own unit 1125 which worked some of the services on the last day of BR operation.

Great Little Steam Railways of Wales
2025-09-25 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
A personal view of Steam on the Great Little Railways of Wales in the present century. Railways featured include the Welsh Highland, Festiniog, Talyllyn, Corris, Vale of Rheidol and Welshpool & Llanfair.
For this virtual event, you will require a ticket. Free for RCTS members, but a £2.00 donation will be requested at the checkout. Non-member tickets are £2.00. (Or you can join the Society in the same transaction to take advantage of members’ benefits). Note that with the the new season, the price for Zoom meetings has been reduced. Rather than than making individual donations for each meeting, members may prefer to make a bulk donation at https://rcts.org.uk/product/donation-society/.
To receive information on coming National (and other) Zoom meetings, please join the RCTS National Zoom E-mail List (RCTS-National@groups.io) by visiting https://groups.io/g/RCTS-National , or by e-mail to RCTS-National+subscribe@groups.io.

The Doncaster Rover
2025-09-30 14:00 - 16:30 | HTC Welwyn, Digswell Village Church Hall, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL6 0DH, United Kingdom
A Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City branch presentation by Stephen Gay.
Travelling from Frickley to Finningly, Mexborough to Moorends and Bentley, Bessacarr to Bawtry. This is a railway journey which criss-crosses the Doncaster borough. Using Stephen’s slides taken over the last 40 years, the presentation will also look at waterways and historic buildings. We will also take a bus journey, helping to locate lost lines and stations!
(Information provided by Stephen Gay)
Doors open 13:30 for a 14:00 start.

SOUTH WALES BRANCH OUTDOOR EVENT - WALKING OLD RAILWAY LINES
2025-10-01 10:30 - 13:30 | Potters Public House, 22-24 Upper Dock St, Newport, Gwent, NP20 1DL, United Kingdom
On Wednesday 1st October Ian Reese will be leading a walk along the west bank of the River Usk and into the Pillgwenlly area of Newport to show us the almost entirely disappeared railway scene of years gone by. There were many railway lines crowding the west bank, bringing coal down from the valleys for loading onto ships, amongst other activities, by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Co. and successor companies. We will walk along the river bank to visit the site of an old railway station, a locomotive engine shed and a mishap which befell a ship on the river, amongst other locations. Ian will bring some folders of photographs from the past of the locations we will visit. The walk will be about two to three miles long on flat surfaces, with frequent stops. We could ‘replenish our tanks’ with ‘coal and water’, back to the town centre after the walk, at a suitable ‘refuelling point’.If you would to join us please meet Ian in the bus station at the rear of the Potters public house in Newport town centre at 10.30 am on Wednesday 1st October. Parking is available at the Friars’ Walk car park (payment required) next door to the meeting point. Address ; John Frost Square, Newport, Gwent, NP20 1EA. The meeting point is 5 to 10 minutes’ walk from the Railway Station. (NB. There are two bus stations in Newport ; make sure you go to the one by the Potters public house).
Mill Street, Newport

The Last Days of Steam on Merseyside and in the North West (The Ted Baxendale Collection) by Philip Parker
2025-10-01 13:30 - 15:45 | MCN Liverpool, Haig House Social Club, Woolton Road, Garston, Liverpool, L19 5NQ, United Kingdom

Milton Keynes Branch Meeting - ‘West Midlands Trains – Our Challenges & Opportunities for the Future’
2025-10-02 19:30 - 21:30 | MKY Milton Keynes, Network Rail - The Quadrant: MK, Elder Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK9 1EN, United Kingdom
Geoff Grant, Stakeholder Manager for West Midlands Trains, gives an overview of the key priorities facing the company in terms of their fleet, customer experience, accessibility and innovation.

Bristol Meeting - 'The Advanced Passenger Train' by Kit Spackman
2025-10-03 19:30 - 22:00 | BTL North Filton, St Teresa’s Church Hall, 71 Gloucester Road, North Filton, BS34 7PL, United Kingdom
Kit Spackman, who was the Tilt System Development Engineer on the APT-E programme, will explain the fascinating story of the whole APT Programme.

Archive And Library Open Day - CANCELLED
2025-10-04 11:00 - 16:00, 2025-10-09 11:00 - 16:00, 2025-10-15 11:00 - 16:00, 2025-10-21 11:00 - 16:00 | RCTS Library, Leatherhead Station Approach, Leatherhead, KT22 7SQ, United Kingdom
Archive And Library Open Day
Cancelled due to us STILL awaiting completion of the interior works by GTR.

WFD Branch - 'The Forgotten Standard', by Ian Crowder, 7th October 2025
2025-10-07 19:00 - 21:30 | WFD Watford, Beechen Grove Baptist Church, Clarendon Road, Watford, WD17 1JJ, United Kingdom
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 Class 4 2-6-0s and 76077 in particular; its delivery to Sutton Oak (8G) depot and its typical use until withdrawn in December 1967 and subsequent transfer to Barry scrapyard. The second part explains its rescue by Chris Hinton and long term storage at Toddington, when the locomotive became almost forgotten. Acquired by TSLL in 2018, it has undergone very rapid restoration, funded thanks to a vigorous marketing campaign, with a number of technical challenges overcome along the way. The progress is brought completely up-to-date including the current overhaul of the boiler at Leaky Finders in Devon.
Please note this is a physical meeting, doors open from 18:30 for 19:00 commencement of proceedings.

Transforming The Transport for Wales Fleet
2025-10-08 19:00 - 22:00 | SWL Radyr, Cardiff, Old Church Rooms / Hen Ysgoldy'r Eglwys, Park Road, Radyr, Cardiff, CF15 8DF, United Kingdom
A talk by Andrew Gainsbury with photography by Jeremy Segrott

Scottish Rails in Camera - 1964-2025
2025-10-09 14:30 - 16:30 | SCT Edinburgh, Scots Guards Club, 2 Clifton Terrace,, Edinburgh, EH12 5DR, United Kingdom
Our original speaker, Norman Turnbull, has had to withdraw for health reasons but, in his place, we are delighted to welcome Mike Robinson, a Society Trustee and Managing Editor of The Railway Observer, who will be presenting a selection of his wonderful images, depicting Scotland’s railways over several decades.

InterCity 125 High Speed Trains – an enthusiast's perspective
2025-10-09 19:00 - 21:30 | PBR Peterborough, St Luke’s Church, Mayor's Walk, Peterborough, PE3 6EZ, United Kingdom
Society Secretary Richard Morris visits us to look at the operations of the InterCity 125, or High Speed Train, from the point of view of the enthusiast.
Expect lots of variety of liveries and locations in Richard’s new presentation.

Visit to Doncaster
2025-10-14

The Last Four Years of Steam
2025-10-14 14:00 - 16:30 | St Marks Church Hall, Hitchin SG5 1UR, St Mark's Close, Lancaster Avenue, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1UR
A Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City branch presentation by George Howe.
George tells us that:
This will be a slide show which will take you back to the steam era 1964 to 1968 if you were around in that time. If younger hopefully it will show life, and how I travelled about to capture live steam.
I travelled all four regions to where steam locomotives were still in use, and witnessed diesels coming in to replace them. Steam gradually disappearing over this time, leaving the last area of the country to see them being the north west of England.
The reason for my title of this presentation is, I started using slide films in 1964, and steam finally came to an end in 1968. About sixty one years ago when I started with slide films, and four years before steam on service trains finally disappeared.
Doors open 13:30 for a 14:00 start.

The Vintage Trains story - the rise to a Train Operating Company - Mike Corbett
2025-10-14 14:00 - 16:30 | EMD Nottingham, The New Mechanics, 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham, NG1 4EZ, United Kingdom
The presentation covers the history and development of Vintage Trains in Birmingham to Train Operating
Company status, together with the Tyseley collection of steam and diesel locomotives. Mike also illustrates examples of the use of modern technology applied to heritage
locomotives and rolling stock for safe main line operation.

Andy Barclay - More slides from the Peter Fox collection
2025-10-14 19:00 - 21:00 | SFD Sheffield Farm Road Sports & Social Club, Farm Road, Sheffield, S2 2TP, United Kingdom
Andy delves into the archives with more gems from the Peter Fox collection – with material from both the local area and further afield.

An A-Z of Swiss Railways (Part 1)
2025-10-14 19:30 - 22:00 | CSL Croydon, East Croydon United Reformed Church, Addiscombe Grove, Croydon, CR0 5LP, United Kingdom
The first part of a trilogy providing an A- Z of Swiss Railways, this instalment covers the three main Swiss operators, and then letters A – C.

"Cross-London Freights and Steam Specials 2005 to 2025" by Tony Roberts
2025-10-14 19:30 - 22:00 | CBR Fulbourn, Cambridge, The Swifts, Haggis Gap, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5HD, United Kingdom
On Tuesday 14th October we welcome Tony Roberts who will give a presentation on the different routes taken by freight trains and steam specials to cross London. This will be a video presentation, focusing on important junctions, and is guaranteed to expand everyone’s knowledge of the capital’s rail network!

Railways of Southampton
2025-10-15 19:30 - 22:00 | SOE Eastleigh, Junction Church (formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute), 2 Romsey Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9FE, United Kingdom

NEA Branch - Missed Locomotives and Lost Locations
2025-10-16 19:00 - 21:30 | NEA Darlington, Darlington Cricket Club, South Terrace, Darlington, DL1 5JD, United Kingdom
presented by Ted Parker
Members please note –
The Branch Annual General Meeting will take place before this presentation, commencing at 18:30

CHM Branch - That was the year that was - 1962
2025-10-16 19:00 - 22:00 | CHM Cheltenham, Victory Club, Burlington House, Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2SY, United Kingdom
Geoff Plumb travels from Hertfordshire to give us the first instalment of his extensive “That was the year that was” series. These presentations have something for absolutely everyone.

Surrey Branch - Railway 200 and the NRM’s 50th Birthday
2025-10-16 19:15 - 21:30 | SRY Woking, Woking United Reform Church, White Rose Lane, Woking, GU22 7HA, United Kingdom
Railway 200 and the NRM’s 50th Birthday
By Andrew McLean – Assistant Director And Head Curator, The Railway Museum

WEN - "Newton Abbot and its Branch lines" David Mitchell
2025-10-18 19:00 - 21:30 | WEN Exeter [Mint Methodist Church], Fore Street, Exeter, EX4 3AT, United Kingdom
David Mitchell opens our 2025/26 programme with his 5th talk on local railways, as the author of a number of local interest books David draws on his extensive archive and the talk will include the Marsh Barton & Heathfield branches with a brief look at the Teign Valley and Moretonhampstead branches before they closed, plus a longer look at Newton Abbot to Kingswear

The Vintage Trains Story - Mike Corbett
2025-10-20 14:00 - 16:00 | Cheylesmore Community Centre, Poitiers Road, Coventry 5JX, Poitiers Road, Cheylesmore,, Coventry, CV3 5JX
As a former Works Manager at Wolverton with a fifty-year career history with many years as a senior engineering manager and director within the rail industry. In retirement Mike is now a volunteer for the Vintage Trains Charitable Trust in Tyseley, Birmingham.

This year he has undertaken ”The Vintage Trains Story – the rise to a Train Operating Company” presentation which covers the history and development of Vintage Trains in Birmingham to train operating company status, together with the Tyseley Collection of steam and diesel locomotives. It also illustrates examples of use of modern technology applied to heritage locomotives and rolling stock for safe main line operation.

Northampton Castle Station in Camera by Richard Deacon, Northampton Branch Meeting
2025-10-20 14:00 - 16:30 | NHN Northampton – Weston Favell, Weston Favell Parish Hall, Booth Lane South, Northampton, NN3 3EP, United Kingdom

Railways Remembered - Cheshire and North Wales
2025-10-20 19:30 - 22:30 | ESX Shenfield, Shenfield Parish Hall, 60 Hutton Road, Shenfield, CM15 8LB, United Kingdom
Remote Speaker Physical meeting at Shenfield Parish Hall which will also be available on Zoom as a Hybrid Meeting.
Using material from Online Transport Archive, Charles will show a selection of colour images from this area. The material is drawn from a number of key collections in the Archive, most notably John McCann, Charles Firminger and Phil Tatt. Images deal with the period from the mid-1950s to early 1970, and cover steam, diesel and electric, BR, industry and heritage, and a few surprises along the way.
The meeting this month will be a bit of an experiment – whilst we will have a physical meeting in Shenfield, our speaker, Charles Roberts, will be delivering his presentation over Zoom. Images will be shown in the hall on the projector as normal and an audio amplifier will allow members to hear the presentation clearly. If this works then it opens up the possibility of us having a greater variety of speakers including those who live too far away to be physically present in the hall.
