The Railway Correspondence & Travel Society

CHM Branch - Royal Funeral Trains
2025-02-20 19:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | CHM Cheltenham, Victory Club, Burlington House, Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2SY, United Kingdom
It is famously said that when HM Queen Victoria travelled to/from Windsor by train, the driver was instructed to “proceed at no more pace than the horses would reach”. Until, that is, the occasion of her funeral when there was a bit of time pressure, so the Great Western crew got a bit of a wriggle on! Nicolas Wheatley returns with more of his research on funeral trains and will be able to confirm or deny this story.

North East Branch - Steam and Diesel in the Northern Fells
2025-02-20 19:00 - 21:30 | NEA Darlington, Darlington Cricket Club, South Terrace, Darlington, DL1 5JD, United Kingdom
Ian Pilkington travels across The Pennines to bring us images of steam and diesel hard at work across the northern fells of England.

The Effect of World War II on Britain's Railways
2025-02-20 14:00 - 16:30
“Industrial and Railway historian Richard Marks explores the impact of World War Two upon Britain’s railways. Find out the important role that Britain’s four railway companies had in achieving victory in World War Two. Discover the war work that was undertaken in the railway company works across the country and the impact of Luftwaffe operations upon Britain’s railway network during the war. This talk will also look at how the legacy left by the Victorian railway builders benefitted Britain in World War Two.”

An A-Z of Swiss Railways Part 1
2025-02-19 19:30 - 22:00 | SOE Eastleigh, Junction Church (formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute), 2 Romsey Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9FE, United Kingdom

HSD branch - A further look at Colour-rail
2025-02-18 19:30 - 22:00 | HSD Hull, The Highway, Willerby Road, Hull, HU5 5LH, United Kingdom
Paul Chancellor – “A further look at Colour-rail”

Remembering my lines
2025-02-18 14:00 - 16:30 | TVY Didcot, Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Road, Didcot, OX11 7JN, United Kingdom
Colin Brading gives us a very wide-ranging presentation: starting from his early railway interests and lineside haunts to the highlights of a diverse engineering career spanning fifty years, ‘Remembering My Lines’ is an illustrated medley of memories and experiences seasoned with many of the presenter’s own favourites. On this journey ‘from anorak to hi-vis’ we will see infrastructure works, trains and railway scenes of all descriptions, travelling far and wide on gauges broad and narrow.

Archive And Library Open Day
2025-02-18 11:00 - 16:00, 2025-02-12 11:00 - 16:00, 2025-02-06 11:00 - 16:00, 2025-02-01 11:00 - 16:00 | RCTS Library, Leatherhead Station Approach, Leatherhead, KT22 7SQ, United Kingdom

The Monochrome Model Railway
2025-02-17 19:30 - 22:30 | ESX Shenfield, Shenfield Parish Hall, 60 Hutton Road, Shenfield, CM15 8LB, United Kingdom
Physical meeting at Shenfield Parish Hall which will also be available on Zoom as a Hybrid Meeting.
Railway photographers often have their step-ladders in the boot of their car to allow them to get a few feet higher in search of the ideal image. Tonight’s presentation promises a more lofty view still. This presentation takes the form of a selection of views of the railways in East London & Essex taken from the Historic England Aerofilms collection. These show the railway from a totally different perspective. The illustrations presented here were taken between the 1920s and the 1950s and some show aspects of the lines not normally seen in photographs.
Our speaker, Nigel Bowdidge, has been interested in railways for as long as he can remember. A detailed interest in the railways of East Anglia and East London began when he discovered the maps and photographs in the Essex Records Office and Chelmsford Borough Library when in his teens. Much photography of trains and stations, both open and closed, ensued thanks to his first full-time job at Ilford Films. Forty years of commuting to the City meant he could keep an eye on developments on the railway. Now semi-retired, he finds there is enough railway information on the internet to keep the mind active!

Members Images + AGM
2025-02-17 14:00 - 16:00 | Cheylesmore Community Centre, Poitiers Road, Coventry 5JX, Poitiers Road, Cheylesmore,, Coventry, CV3 5JX

Peterborough branch meeting February 2025
2025-02-13 19:00 - 21:30 | PBR Peterborough, St Luke’s Church, Mayor's Walk, Peterborough, PE3 6EZ, United Kingdom
This meeting is being planned and details will be confirmed soon

John Spencer Gilks on Tour and John Spencer Gilks' Westerns
2025-02-12 19:00 - 22:00 | SWL Radyr, Cardiff, Old Church Rooms / Hen Ysgoldy'r Eglwys, Park Road, Radyr, Cardiff, CF15 8DF, United Kingdom
Nigel Wassell will present another set of images which he has curated from John’s extensive collection.

North from Kings Cross – Photos from the RCTS Archive
2025-02-11 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
A photographic review of the southern ECML, drawn from the Society’s Photographic archive by David Jackman. This features both the steam and diesel eras – while not completely forgetting the electric era – with the odd deviation along the way.

"Trains in Saudi Arabia, Israel and Jordan" by Iain Scotchman
2025-02-11 19:30 - 22:00 | CBR Fulbourn, Cambridge, The Swifts, Haggis Gap, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5HD, United Kingdom
We are certain of a fantastic evening on Tuesday, February 11th as our guest speaker, Iain Scotchman, guides us round the railway networks of Saudi Arabia, Israel and Jordan. These networks are rarely visited by enthusiasts, but Iain has toured all three and provides a fascinating insight into their respective operations.

Visit to Nottingham Express transit depot
2025-02-11 14:00 - 17:00 | Nottingham tram depot, Wilkinson Street, Nottingham, NG77NW, United Kingdom
A visit to the tram depot at Wilkinson Street

The Last Decade at Hitchin
2025-02-11 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 Richard Allen.
In the presenter’s own words:
I will be presenting Part 2 of recent goings-on at Hitchin, covering the last 11 years or so, where I have tried to record (work commitments, Covid-19 etc permitting!) as much as possible of the happenings on the local railway scene.
Doors open 13:30 for a 14:00 start.

Building new steam locomotives in Sheffield
2025-02-11 14:00 - 16:00 | SFD Sheffield Farm Road Sports & Social Club, Farm Road, Sheffield, S2 2TP, United Kingdom
In a corner of Sheffield two new steam locomotives are being built – find out all about them in this, our first in-person meeting of 2025 – which is Sheffield branch’s 75th anniversary. Chris Jones brings us up to date with the project to build a British Railways Standard “Clan” Class Steam locomotive (72010 “Hengist”) using 21st century engineering and Brian Hall from the B17 Steam Locomotive Trust provides details of the project to build 61673 “Spirit of Sandringham”.

"Recollections of RCTS branch visits in the 1960s" by Noel Machell.
2025-02-11 13:00 - 16:30 | Fulwood Lawn Tennis club Highgate Ave Preston PR2 8DY, Highgate Ave, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 8DY
Our second afternoon meeting of the season starting at 13.00.

The Princess Royals 1933-1962 by Jim Connor.
2025-02-10 14:15 - 16:30 | Greenfinch Hall,Greenfinch Avenue Ipswich IP2 0SQ

The Waverley Route by Dennis Lovett, Northampton Branch Meeting
2025-02-10 14:00 - 16:30 | NHN Northampton – Weston Favell, Weston Favell Parish Hall, Booth Lane South, Northampton, NN3 3EP, United Kingdom

Bristol - AGM followed by 'To Scotland for Steam' by Brian Arman
2025-02-07 19:30 - 22:00 | BTL North Filton, St Teresa’s Church Hall, 71 Gloucester Road, North Filton, BS34 7PL, United Kingdom
After a short AGM Branch Chairman Brian Arman will present part two of ‘To Scotland for Steam’, featuring the HR, CR, and G&SWR lines.

Milton Keynes Branch Zoom Meeting - ‘Colourful North Bucks’
2025-02-06 19:30 - 21:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
Join us for our second meeting of the year on Zoom – Clive Pepper will take us on a look back over the last forty years at some of the railway traffic and operations in North Bucks. Particular emphasis will be on the wide variety of colourful liveries seen on both passenger and freight workings in the area. Register via the Zoom link below to join.

Steam in North Wales and the borders since 2010
2025-02-05 19:30 - 21:30
this session will feature an area not normally featured in our presentations so we welcome ian pilkington to give us his presentation

Czech Railways by Chris Poole
2025-02-05 13:30 - 15:45 | MCN Liverpool, Haig House Social Club, Woolton Road, Garston, Liverpool, L19 5NQ, United Kingdom

WFD Branch Zoom Meeting - 'The History of the Severn Valley Railway', by Bernie Holland, 4th February 2025
2025-02-04 18:30 - 21:30 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
Bernie Holland takes us from Shrewsbury to Hartlebury and Kidderminster taking in the branch from Northwood to Woofferton. Black and white and colour images from the 1950s and 1960s along with some views of what remains in preservation between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster.
Please note this is a virtual Zoom meeting, you will need to register via the link below. You will be able to join the meeting from 18:45 with a 19:00 start of the presentation. There is no charge for the meeting, but donations, in units of £2.00, can be made via the organiser button below and this would be much appreciated.

RCTS WEN Branch Meeting : Barry Jones Devolved Diesels
2025-02-01 19:00 - 21:30 | WEN Exeter [Mint Methodist Church], Fore Street, Exeter, EX4 3AT, United Kingdom
For our February meeting we welcome back Barry Jones from Plymouth who will be entertaining with some more of his excellent photographs of Diesels, the evening will be a photographic tour around Wales and Scotland from the late 1970s to date. A digital show.

****Please note the change of date from the second Saturday of the month owing to the Mint hosting its annual pantomime*****

"Steam and Diesel in the Northern Fells 2017-2023" by Ian Pilkington.
2025-01-31 19:30 - 22:00 | Fulwood Lawn Tennis club Highgate Ave Preston PR2 8DY, Highgate Ave, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 8DY

Railways before the War – that’s the Great War! (Part 2)
2025-01-30 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
A further presentation of Black and White images, drawn from the Ken Nunn collection and scanned from glass plates, illustrating railways in Britain before the Great War. Tonight’s is the second of the three parts, featuring Southern and Western (the railways which would be amalgamated into the Southern, GWR and LMSR in 1923). The Ken Nunn collection was acquired by the LCGB after Ken’s death, and although it has now been transferred to the NRM, ‘showing rights’ to the scanned images were retained, and Jeremy Harrison is making this presentation wearing his LCGB hat.
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.
