"NYMR 1969 - 2022" - David Birtle
2023-05-18 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | WRD Shipley, Saltaire Methodist Church, Saltaire Road, Shipley, BD18 3HJ, United Kingdom

Eurostar - Signalling High Speed Connections Across Europe
2023-05-18 19:15 - 21:30 | SRY Woking, Woking United Reform Church, White Rose Lane, Woking, GU22 7HA, United Kingdom
Eurostar – Signalling High Speed Connections Across Europe

An Other Evening with Jim Sedgwick
2023-05-18 19:00 - 21:30 | NEA Darlington, Darlington Cricket Club, South Terrace, Darlington, DL1 5JD, United Kingdom
(Change of speaker)
Jim’s photos are superb and often of unusual locations taken in the 1950’s to early 1960’s.

Back to where it all started (Southampton to Weybridge)
2023-05-17 19:30 - 22:00 | SOE Eastleigh, Junction Church (formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute), 2 Romsey Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9FE, United Kingdom

North Staffordshire Railways (Part 2)
2023-05-16 19:00 - 21:30 | TVY Didcot, Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Road, Didcot, OX11 7JN, United Kingdom
Part II of the North Staffs talk covers the line from Derby to Uttoxeter and then onwards to Stoke. We then continue to Kidsgrove via the Harecastle diversions, and then run via Alsager to Crewe.

Archive and Library Open Day
2023-05-16 11:00 - 16:00, 2023-05-10 11:00 - 16:00 | RCTS Library, Leatherhead Station Approach, Leatherhead, KT22 7SQ, United Kingdom

The Great Eastern Railway: ‘Rarely other than Idiosynchratic’
2023-05-15 19:30 - 22:30 | ESX Shenfield, Shenfield Parish Hall, 60 Hutton Road, Shenfield, CM15 8LB, United Kingdom
Following the openings, in successive years, of the significant London main line stations at London Bridge, Euston and then Paddington, there followed a minor station in Mile End as the terminus of a railway planned to link the capital to Norwich via Colchester and Ipswich. Another early railway was to use the same terminus, but connect London to York via Cambridge and Lincoln. This second line ground to a halt halfway to Cambridge, but was piggy-backed by the first, who used it to gain Norwich via Cambridge and Ely, so deserting the shorter route via Ipswich. A rival concern from Ipswich then rapidly completed the direct route. Not only did East Anglia then have two disjointed main line routes to Norwich, but also other independent connections and a plethora of idiosyncratic rural branch lines, all of which amalgamated to form the Great Eastern who soon after opened a prominent terminus in the City. The story is told, and many of the routes are travelled in this presentation, one of a trilogy railways in the ‘Eastern Region’. Ray is a retired Chartered Engineer who has undertaken some rail tour management for both LCGB & a worldwide rail travel company. Widely travelled, much of which has been independent, around the 5 continents of the world plus Aus and NZ. Visited parts that most others haven’t e.g., North Korea, Pakistan, Eritrea, Paraguay, Syria & Ukraine. His talks use both his own photo material plus items from a photo collection and research from his own comprehensive specialised library.

Railtours and Specials-The last forty years by John Day.
2023-05-15 19:15 - 21:45 | IPS Ipswich, Greenfinch Church Hall, Greenfinch Avenue, Ipswich, IP2 0SQ, United Kingdom
Owing to our booked speaker being unavailable John will present the above from his extensive collection.

The John Wells Collection - Part 1 - 1952/ 1958 - Chris Berridge / Bryan Acford
2023-05-15 14:00 - 16:00 | WMD Coventry, Cheylesmore Community Centre, Arundel/Poitiers Road, Coventry, CV3 5JX, United Kingdom
John Wells was born in 1935 and having been evacuated to Sandy, Bedfordshire, during the 2nd World War lived there for many years. After school he worked for a large insurance company so commuted daily to London, often carrying his camera. He held a lineside permit and photographed widely on the southern section of the ECML as well as on sections of the GE, Midland & LNW mainlines which were within easy travelling distance of his home. There are also visits to locations such as Tonbridge, Basingstoke & Sonning as well as pictures taken on family holidays. The show is totally B&W and covers the period from his earliest photos until the end of 1958. It’s a reminder of the huge variety of locos, including pre-grouping varieties, which could still be seen in a day at that time by spending a day at the Lineside. John also enjoyed good relations with many local railway staff which assisted his endeavours and gave him advance notice of rare workings.

Diesels in the Peak District - Phil Lockwood & Enid Vincent
2023-05-10 19:30 - 21:30 | SFD Sheffield Farm Road Sports & Social Club, Farm Road, Sheffield, S2 2TP, United Kingdom
Peak District photos and stories from Phil and Enid from the period 1975-2019. Also includes rail connected cement works and quarries
Recommended Donations:- RCTS Members £3, Guests £4

Railways Around Radyr
2023-05-10 19:00 - 22:00 | SWL Radyr, Cardiff, Old Church Rooms / Hen Ysgoldy'r Eglwys, Park Road, Radyr, Cardiff, CF15 8DF, United Kingdom
A TfW Class 150 heads into Radyr past Radyr Weir in January 2023. The masts for the electrification of the Core Valley Network will finish Jeremy Segrott and Peter Fortune’s presentation, which will start with the opoening of the Taff Vale railway in 1840

Sir Nigel Gresley: The LNER's First C.M.E.
2023-05-09 19:30 - 22:00 | CSL Croydon, East Croydon United Reformed Church, Addiscombe Grove, Croydon, CR0 5LP, United Kingdom
Having previously given us a presentation on Edward Thompson, Gresley Society member Simon A. C. Martin returns to tell us about his predecessor, Sir Nigel Gresley, who he has been researching for a coming book. In the course of thirty years as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Northern Railway, and then after the grouping the London & North Eastern Railway, he was responsible for 25 new locomotive designs, and 11 more modified designs totaling nearly 3000 locomotives, including 114 Pacifics. In the course of his career he established a reputation as one of the greatest locomotive engineers, especially as his output included the world’s fastest steam locomotive, No. 4468 Mallard.

Aspects of Southern Steam
2023-05-09 19:30 - 22:00 | CBR Fulbourn, Cambridge, The Swifts, Haggis Gap, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5HD, United Kingdom
For out last meeting of the 2022/23 season we are delighted to welcome Brian Benford for his talk on ‘Aspects of Southern Steam’.

Visit to Newcastle
2023-05-09

The Great Train Robbery
2023-05-05 19:30 - 22:00 | BTL North Filton, St Teresa’s Church Hall, 71 Gloucester Road, North Filton, BS34 7PL, United Kingdom
Ian’s talk on the robbery is the result of years of research and fact finding together with his personal goal being, how on earth do you stop a express train doing 95 miles per hour in the middle of nowhere and drive it yourself ?? Ian brings a 1960’s colour light signal with him to demonstrate how it was rigged to stop the train.

Journey from Kings Cross to York, with Stephen Gay
2023-05-04 19:30 - 22:00 | MKY Milton Keynes, Network Rail - The Quadrant: MK, Elder Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK9 1EN, United Kingdom
Stephen Gay makes a welcome return to take us on a journey on the East Coast Main Line from Kings Cross to York, with images from 40 years ago to the present day.

"Lost Loco's, Lost Locations" - Ted Parker
2023-05-04 14:00 - 16:00 | WRD Shipley, Saltaire Methodist Church, Saltaire Road, Shipley, BD18 3HJ, United Kingdom
Please note this is an afternoon meeting to be held in the Church and not the usual meeting room.

Archive and Library Open Day
2023-05-04 11:00 - 16:00, 2023-04-29 11:00 - 16:00 | RCTS Library, Leatherhead Station Approach, Leatherhead, KT22 7SQ, United Kingdom

The Stainmore Line
2023-05-03 19:30 - 21:30 | FLL Carnforth, Royal Station Hotel, Market Street, Carnforth, LA5 9BT, United Kingdom

European Misadventures, by Michael Reade
2023-05-02 19:00 - 21:30 | WFD Watford, Beechen Grove Baptist Church, Clarendon Road, Watford, WD17 1JJ, United Kingdom
‘European Misadventures’, by Michael Reade, 2nd May 2023: Michael was fortunate enough to have employment as an advertising sales manager for several trade and technical publications with European advertisers which necessitated regular visits to France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Sweden commencing in the mid-sixties. Between appointments he was able to locate some final outposts of steam, interspersed with now vintage tramcars. Misadventures include ending up with his Ford Cortina in a tram depot and being followed around Rotterdam by two men with holstered pistols! And, of course, the infamous incident of getting fairly inebriated with Herr Beck, the Burgomaster of Bremen and then owner of Beck’s Brewery. He still drinks Becks but nowadays only the non-alcoholic variant…
This is an indoor meeting, doors open from 18:45, commence 19:00

North from Euston
2023-04-27 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
A selection from the Society Photographic Archive, illustrating the route around the time of the modernisation era, presented by David Jackman.
Registration will be limited to 100 so don’t leave it to the last minute.

For this virtual event there is a suggested donation of £2. If you wish to contribute just follow the National Meetings link below.
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.

An evening with my Father’s (Derek Cross) slides
2023-04-26 19:15 - 21:30 | CHR Bassil Shippam Centre, Tozer Way, St Pancras, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 7LG, United Kingdom
A LMR black and white journey from Euston to Carlisle between 1958-1968.

A miscellany of original slides 1960s - 2000s steam and diesel - Richard Binding
2023-04-25 19:30 - 21:30 | EMD Nottingham, The New Mechanics, 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham, NG1 4EZ, United Kingdom

Visit to Cardiff
2023-04-25

A Northern view
2023-04-24 19:30 - 22:00 | MHD Cox Green, Cox Green Community Centre, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, SL6 3AX, United Kingdom
Steve is visiting us from Yorkshire to give us a true taste of the North, railway wise that is

The Ashes Quiz - RCTS v Bedford LCGB, hosted by Bryan Benford
2023-04-24 14:00 - 16:30 | NHN Northampton – Weston Favell, Weston Favell Parish Hall, Booth Lane South, Northampton, NN3 3EP, United Kingdom
After disruption by Covid, this annual event returns to a home venue

Members' Day and AGM 2023
2023-04-22 11:00 - 17:00 | Grand Station, Wolverhampton, Sun Street, Wolverhampton, WV10 0BF, United Kingdom
Welcome to our 2023 Members Day which is being held on Saturday 22nd April in the Brunel Suite of The Grand Station Conference Centre in Wolverhampton. The venue was formerly the Great Western Railway’s Wolverhampton Low Level Station, which has been beautifully restored and converted into a conference and wedding venue.
The venue is located next door to the London and North Western Railway Wolverhampton High Level Station so getting to the venue by train is dead easy – just a few minutes walk from the main line railway. We have a programme of events planned for the day starting with a presentation by Steve Ollive on “Transport in Schleswig-Holstein”. After this we will break for lunch before the Society Annual General Meeting. This will be a hybrid meeting with ‘in person attendance’ and others joining via the Zoom Video Conferencing facility (registration is required), where we will receive reports from the Trustees and elect three Trustees to serve for the next period. Following the AGM we will have a presentation by Professor Francis Terry on “The Ise Valley Railway” to conclude the Members Day. The venue will be open for us from 10.30am and the day will conclude at around 5.00 pm – have a look at the timetable of events for the day for timings.
Parking at the site is extremely limited (there are public car parks further away), so if you are able to come please consider travelling by train (train and tram services to Wolverhampton from Birmingham every few minutes). If you fancy making a weekend of it there is plenty of hotel accommodation in Wolverhampton, some of which is not far from the venue site. If you get chance during the day, sneak round the back of the building and you will observe that a platform face from the old station still exists!
The Trustees and Officers look forward to seeing you there if you are able to come.
Richard Morris
(Society Secretary)
Timetable for the day
1030 – Doors open for members/guests to assemble in the Brunel Suite.
1100 – Chairman’s welcome followed by Transport in Schleswig-Holstein, a talk by Steve Ollive
1215 – Comfort Break
1230 – Buffet Lunch. Please book lunch by email to secretary@rcts.org.uk or message to 07954 348519, and pay on the day (cards/cash)
1315 – Society’s 2023 Annual General Meeting.
This part only is available hybrid with remote Zoom access, with pre-registration required. Attendees will be admitted from a waiting room having had their membership status checked.
1515 – Comfort Break
1530 – Prof. Francis Terry’s illustrated talk – “The Ise Valley Railway” (about his extensive narrow-gauge steam railway at Finedon in Northamptonshire, now relocated to the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft)
1645 – Close

Branch AGM + Members' Presentations
2023-04-20 19:30 - 21:30 | WRD Shipley, Saltaire Methodist Church, Saltaire Road, Shipley, BD18 3HJ, United Kingdom
