The Railway Correspondence & Travel Society

Archive & Library Open Day
2024-09-25 11:00 - 16:00, 2024-10-01 11:00 - 16:00, 2024-10-12 11:00 - 16:00, 2024-10-17 11:00 - 16:00 (Europe/London) | RCTS Library, Leatherhead Station Approach, Leatherhead, KT22 7SQ, United Kingdom

'On and off the footplate' by Bill Davies
2024-09-25 14:00 - 16:30 | NHN Roade, Roade Village Hall, Bailey Brooks Lane, Roade, Northampton, NN7 2LS, United Kingdom

Watercress Line Film Unit
2024-09-25 19:15 - 21:30 | CHR Bassil Shippam Centre, Tozer Way, St Pancras, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 7LG, United Kingdom
From ‘History’ to ‘How it works’, the Watercress Films Unit only formally came into existence a few years ago. Since creation Will and his team have boosted the railway’s publicity on youtube with followers regularly tuning in to find out more about the Watercress Line. In this talk Will takes us through the creation of the film unit, some notable projects and dives into the behind the scenes magic that goes into making an episode.

"A West Riding Roundabout"
2024-09-26 19:30 - 21:30 | WRD Shipley, Saltaire Methodist Church, Saltaire Road, Shipley, BD18 3HJ, United Kingdom

Steam in Romania and Elsewhere
2024-09-26 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
A two part presentation, by two of our German stalwarts.
In the first half, Helmut Dahlhaus will show photos by his late brother Hans Dieter Dahlhaus of steam on Căile Ferate Române (Romanian Railways) between 1968 and 1980, to be followed from some his own images of steam in Czechoslovakia.
For a more powerful express loco in the 1930s, CFR chose the impressive Austrian 214 (later 12) class 2-8-4 design, seen here as 142 044 works a photograhic charter near Negreni in September 1998. Photo credit: Günter Oczko
For the second half, Günter Oczko will show images from charters he ran in Romania between 1995 and 1999, together with some of steam in China to round off the evening.
For this virtual event, you will require a ticket. Free for RCTS members, but a £2.50 donation will be requested at the checkout. Non-member tickets are £2.50. (Or you can join the Society in the same transaction to take advantage of members’ benefits)
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.

Members Weekend 2024
2024-09-27 - 2024-09-29 | The Royal Maritime Hotel, 75-80 Queen Street, Portsmouth, PO1 3HS, United Kingdom
Members Weekend 2024 based in Portsmouth.
Including the RCTS Officers Conference on Sunday 29th September. Full details are to be found at https://rcts.org.uk/members-weekend-2024-news/
The Harbour & Spinnaker Tower

WFD Branch - 'Memories are Made of These!', by Phil Darlaston, 1st October 2024
2024-10-01 19:00 - 21:30 | WFD Watford, Beechen Grove Baptist Church, Clarendon Road, Watford, WD17 1JJ, United Kingdom
‘Memories are made of these!’ – a kind of photographic reminiscence looking back over approx. 50 years at the big railway, main line steam, the maturing preservation scene and perhaps a little infrastructure and overseas thrown into the mix. Commence 19:00.
Please note this is a physical meeting to be held at our usual venue at Beechen Grove Baptist Church, doors open from 18:30.

Scenes from the 1960s
2024-10-02 13:30 - 15:45 | MCN Liverpool, Haig House Social Club, Woolton Road, Garston, Liverpool, L19 5NQ, United Kingdom

Trains and Travel in Thailand
2024-10-02 19:30 - 21:30
our very own member David Bousfield has extensively travelled in this country and will give his usual excellent presentation,not to be missed

Work of the RAIB
2024-10-03 19:30 - 22:00 | MKY Milton Keynes, Network Rail - The Quadrant: MK, Elder Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK9 1EN, United Kingdom
Simon Lomax, Principal Inspector of Rail Accidents at the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, joins us to explain the work of the RAIB.

'The View from the North' illustrated by Steve Batty.
2024-10-04 19:30 - 22:00 | BTL North Filton, St Teresa’s Church Hall, 71 Gloucester Road, North Filton, BS34 7PL, United Kingdom
Steve Batty from Selby North Yorkshire is visiting us to present ‘The View from the North’.

Visit to Doncaster
2024-10-08

Railways in the Cornish Landscape – part 2. by Stephen Gay
2024-10-08 19:00 - 21:15 | SFD Sheffield Farm Road Sports & Social Club, Farm Road, Sheffield, S2 2TP, United Kingdom
Stephen makes a welcome return to the Sheffield branch, continuing his trip west on the Cornish Main Line, this time from Par to Penzance while also taking in the Cornish branch lines.

"34081 92 Squadron – from Rust to Renaissance" by Steve Lacey on behalf of the Battle of Britain Locomotive Society
2024-10-08 19:30 - 22:00 | CBR Fulbourn, Cambridge, The Swifts, Haggis Gap, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5HD, United Kingdom
Based on his own involvement with the locomotive, Steve Lacey describes her rescue and restoration from Barry and the complexities of keeping 34081 in working order on the Nene Valley Railway.

Mandarin Madness - Solo Travels in China
2024-10-08 19:30 - 22:00 | HTC Hitchin, St Mark's Church, St Mark's Close, Lancaster Avenue, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1UR, United Kingdom
A Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City branch presentation by David Longman.
What do you do if you want to photograph steam in China but don’t speak the language, can’t afford a guide or an interpreter and dislike big groups? In a moment of ‘Mandarin Madness’ you decide to go it alone of course! Dave Longman recalls the pitfalls and the pleasures of solo travel in a country in the throws of radical change.
Doors open 19:00.

Stuart Underdown’s Southern Memories - Part 2
2024-10-08 19:30 - 22:00 | CSL Croydon, East Croydon United Reformed Church, Addiscombe Grove, Croydon, CR0 5LP, United Kingdom
The late Stuart Underdown was a Society member and an accomplished photographer, who put together a number of presentations, including this one, of his ‘Southern Memories’, of his own photographs covering the period from the early 1960s through the 1970s, together with some much older images that he had collected, and ranging from Kent to the ‘withered arm’ lines in Devon and Cornwall. We much enjoyed Part 1 last December, with much discussion of what we saw, and remembered: so much so that we only saw a small part of what Stuart has assembled. So tonight we shall continue from where we left off…

From West to East and Back Again
2024-10-09 19:00 - 21:30 | SWL Radyr, Cardiff, Old Church Rooms / Hen Ysgoldy'r Eglwys, Park Road, Radyr, Cardiff, CF15 8DF, United Kingdom
On 9th October 2024, Steve Rickett will take us on a journey from Pembrokeshire to Essex, avoiding London, using secondary routes where possible and going down branch line rabbit holes and visiting lesser-known freight lines. After a relocation to Lincolnshire, we will journey westwards to North Wales, across the Pennines and with detours via some great cities in the north of England. The traction on offer will be varied – diesels will dominate, with some electric traction and a sprinkling of steam.
The image is of 60100 passing Haverfordwest with empty bogie tanks forming 6B41 Westerleigh Puma DBC to Robeston Sidings on 18th April 2017.

Scottish Branch: "To Scotland for Steam (Part 2)" by Rev'd Canon Brian Arman, RCTS President
2024-10-10 14:30 - 16:30 | SCT Edinburgh, Scots Guards Club, 2 Clifton Terrace,, Edinburgh, EH12 5DR, United Kingdom
This will be the first meeting to be held by the Scottish Branch at its splendid new venue which is directly opposite Haymarket station.
Brian returns to continue his illustrated story of touring Scotland in the days of steam. This time he will be involving the WCML, plus the ex-Caledonian and GSWR lines around Glasgow and will be including many historical images from his private collection.
A local train departs Glasgow Central in the 1950s.

Farnham & District MRC Exhibition
2024-10-12 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-10-13 10:00 - 16:30 | Alderwood Leisure Centre, Tongham Road, Aldershot, GU12 4AS, Alderwood Leisure Centre, Tongham Road, Aldershot,, GU12 4AS, United Kingdom
Surrey Branch will be attending the Farnham & District MRC Exhibition at Aldershot. We will have Society publications and second hand books for sale.

RCTS WEN Branch Meeting : David Hunt - Diesels in the 1980s Part 2
2024-10-12 19:00 - 21:30 | WEN Exeter [Mint Methodist Church], Fore Street, Exeter, EX4 3AT, United Kingdom
The first meeting of our 2024/25 will see David Hunt return to give us a show of his classic images from the 1980s. A tradition slide show, will see us transported back to the years when there were a variety of traffic flows with a the modernisation loco classes, as David goes on tour

More of my Father`s(Derek Cross)Photgraphs by David Cross.
2024-10-14 19:15 - 21:45 | Greenfinch Hall,Greenfinch Avenue Ipswich IP2 0SQ

Perhaps the 1990s were more Interesting than I Originally Thought!
2024-10-14 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
A look back some three decades (how time flies! – that’s a longer geriod than the ‘Big Four’ lasted), to the end of the nationalised railway era. Our presenter David Allen writes: “Suppose I was generally lucky in when a New Year dawned my thoughts were on what was a priority to photograph rather than dwell on what had gone! My ideal view involved interesting infrastructure, preferably signals and/or signal box with a train passing. Even better if it there were semaphores and the train loco-hauled. Hence, be warned, the train might just be one feature of the picture, not necessarily the dominant one! Whatever, I managed to keep myself amused, travelling nationwide. Off course, this was the transition from BR to Privatisation, but the opportunities to take interesting views continued.”
For this virtual event, you will require a ticket. Free for RCTS members, but a £2.50 donation will be requested at the checkout. Non-member tickets are £2.50. (Or you can join the Society in the same transaction to take advantage of members’ benefits)
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.

East Anglian Railway Heritage
2024-10-15 19:00 - 21:30 | TVY Didcot, Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Road, Didcot, OX11 7JN, United Kingdom
The presentation includes visits to Heritage Railways in East Anglia from 2011 and more frequent trips to the area following the presenters daughter’s move to Norfolk in 2018, looking at heritage infrastructure on the national railway network and the surprising amount of surviving evidence of the many and varied lines through mainly rural areas many of which closed over 60 years ago.

HSD branch - Skipton to Mallaig by train 1979-present
2024-10-15 19:30 - 22:00
Mike Wedgewood – “Skipton to Mallaig by train 1979- present.”

Train Ferries of WW1 and WW2
2024-10-16 19:30 - 22:00 | SOE Eastleigh, Junction Church (formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute), 2 Romsey Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9FE, United Kingdom

CHM Branch - McRailrover
2024-10-17 19:00 - 22:00 | CHM Cheltenham, Victory Club, Burlington House, Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2SY, United Kingdom
In the 1970s and 1980s, Scotland provided some amazing opportunities to travel around the country, through fantastic scenery, across the roof of the United Kingdom still, then, using locomotive hauled trains away from the big city centre and suburban services. Stuart Warr travels up the River Severn to present an evening of rail-roving – Scottish style.
