The Railway Correspondence & Travel Society

The Greatest Gathering - A Personal Record
2026-01-19 19:30 - 22:30 (Europe/London) | ESX Shenfield, Shenfield Parish Hall, 60 Hutton Road, Shenfield, CM15 8LB, United Kingdom
This presentation, our own Iain Scotchman covers Iain’s visit to the Greatest Gathering in Derby to celebrate 200 years of the railways

Physical meeting at Shenfield Parish Hall also available on Zoom as a Hybrid Meeting.

Manchester to Leeds via Calder Valley
2026-01-20 13:30 - 16:00 | HSD Hull, The Highway, Willerby Road, Hull, HU5 5LH, United Kingdom

TVY Branch - Conditions of Carriage Part 1 - the History of Railway Carriages
2026-01-20 14:00 - 16:30 | TVY Didcot, Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Road, Didcot, OX11 7JN, United Kingdom
Railway carriages may be overshadowed by the glamour of the locomotive, but they can be
glamorous too – or very basic! This presentation traces the diverse and fascinating story of how
carriages evolved from the early stagecoach on rails; to modern day vehicles, with more than a few
trials and errors along the way. Take your seats….

Branch AGM
2026-01-21 18:30 - 19:30 | SOE Eastleigh, Junction Church (formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute), 2 Romsey Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9FE, United Kingdom

Railways of South Wales
2026-01-21 19:30 - 22:00 | SOE Eastleigh, Junction Church (formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute), 2 Romsey Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9FE, United Kingdom

The future of UK Locomotive Operations
2026-01-26 19:30 - 22:00 | MHD Cox Green, Cox Green Community Centre, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, SL6 3AX, United Kingdom
Karl is the founder and MD of Railmotive. He is also the founder, co-owner and former CEO of the Rail Operations Group (ROG) group of companies. He is a career railwayman, business owner and rail industry pioneer. Karl also pioneered the development and procurement of the UK’s first fleet of environmentally-friendly, high-performing class 93 tri-mode locomotives, the first of which enters service in 2025. He spearheaded the development and growth of Rail Operations Group, the UK’s first dedicated rolling stock services and test train operating company. He is now driving a number of revolutionary and game-changing initiatives to deliver rail industry modernisation and leads on the UK’s future locomotive strategy.

Six Months at Stratford Depot - My recollections from 1988
2026-01-27 14:00 - 16:30 | HTC Welwyn, Digswell Village Church Hall, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL6 0DH, United Kingdom
A Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City Branch meeting.
Details to follow.
Doors open at 13:30 for 14:00 start.

Railways Remembered Lake District and North Lancashire
2026-01-28 19:15 - 21:30
Details to Follow

"45 Years of Railway Photography" by Roger Sutcliffe
2026-01-30 19:30 - 22:00 | Fulwood Lawn Tennis club Highgate Ave Preston PR2 8DY, Highgate Ave, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 8DY

WFD Branch Zoom Meeting, ‘The 14 lines of the Paris Métro - Celebrating 125 years’, by Brian Hardy, 3rd February 2026
2026-02-03 18:30 - 21:30 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
‘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 will be added nearer the date. Please note this is a Virtual Zoom Meeting. There is no charge for this meeting, but you will need to register with Zoom – the link is given below – and donations will be gratefully received. These can be made by clicking on the ‘organiser’ given below and are in units of £2.00 – you can donate as many units as you like!

You will be able to join the meeting from 18:30, with the presentation starting at 19:00.

AGM followed by A Miscellany of Railways by Jon Penn
2026-02-04 13:30 - 15:45 | MCN Liverpool, Haig House Social Club, Woolton Road, Garston, Liverpool, L19 5NQ, United Kingdom
Non MCNW members and Non-RCTS members will not be able to take an active part in the AGM

FLL - Diesels and Electrics in the Blue Era
2026-02-04 19:30 - 22:00 | FLL Carnforth, Royal Station Hotel, Market Street, Carnforth, LA5 9BT, United Kingdom
with Roger Sutcliffe

Milton Keynes Branch Zoom Meeting - 'Travels in 2025, Rail 200 and more'
2026-02-05 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
Join us for our second zoom meeting of the year, where John Tigg will take us on a tour of his ‘Travels in 2025, Rail 200 and more’.

Bristol Meeting - 'The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust, 1979 to Date' by Mark Bladwell.
2026-02-06 19:30 - 22:00 | BTL North Filton, St Teresa’s Church Hall, 71 Gloucester Road, North Filton, BS34 7PL, United Kingdom
Mark Bladwell is Chairman of the L & B Somerset & Bristol Area Support Group and will present the work of the Trust / Association since its incorporation in 1979 to reinstate the Southern Railway’s picturesque, narrow-gauge railway in this beautiful part of North Devon.

Members digital images (no 35mm slides)
2026-02-10 13:00 - 15:30 | Fulwood Lawn Tennis club Highgate Ave Preston PR2 8DY, Highgate Ave, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 8DY

Paul Beardsley & Don Wainman - "X" marks the spot
2026-02-10 14:00 - 16:00 | SFD Sheffield Farm Road Sports & Social Club, Farm Road, Sheffield, S2 2TP, United Kingdom
Paul & Don have uncovered a fascinating variety of railway material from social media, some dating back almost 100 years, and following copious research present a show with their findings. Much of local interest will be included.

Visit to EMR Eastcroft Depot - Rob Sykes
2026-02-10 14:00 - 16:30 | Eastcroft Depot, London Road, Nottingham, NG23AH
Members only limited to 20 persons
More details to follow

The Last Years of Steam 1966-1967
2026-02-10 14:00 - 16:30 | 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 Michael Smyth.
Details to follow.
Doors open 13:30 for 14:00 start.

"A Further Evening with Father's Slides" by David Cross
2026-02-10 19:30 - 22:00 | CBR Fulbourn, Cambridge, The Swifts, Haggis Gap, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5HD, United Kingdom
David Cross makes a welcome return visit with more of his father Derek Cross’s memorable pictures.

Railways 1952-53, from the Sutton Coldfield Railway Society's Moseley collection
2026-02-10 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
Railways 1952-53 is a presentation of photographs from the Sutton Coldfield Railway Society’s Moseley Archive of over 2000 photographs taken by Percy Moseley between 1911 and the 1970s. This presentation will cover the years 1952 and 1953 – a period when British Railways was getting into its stride as an organisation, but in many ways it was still the traditional railway, looking and working much as it had done over the previous half century – and follows on from the previous presentations of photographs covering earlier years. It will be given by Robin Mathams, the Moseley Collection Archivist.

Peterborough to Beijing, the Story of a Journey
2026-02-16 19:30 - 22:30 | ESX Shenfield, Shenfield Parish Hall, 60 Hutton Road, Shenfield, CM15 8LB, United Kingdom
Nick Garnham will tell us about an epic journey the first step of which is to board a train at Peterborough

Physical meeting at Shenfield Parish Hall also available on Zoom as a Hybrid Meeting.

TVY Branch - Didcot to Birmingham Snow Hill - featuring the historic slides of Tommy Tomalin
2026-02-17 14:00 - 16:30 | TVY Didcot, Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Road, Didcot, OX11 7JN, United Kingdom
Brian Sullivan returns to give us a further selection of historic scanned slides taken by Tommy
Tomalin, this time covering the route from Didcot through to Snow Hill station in
Birmingham. There are stops at various stations along the route to see the railway operations.

AGM + a Local Favourite Returns with a Show
2026-02-17 19:30 - 22:00 | HSD Hull, The Highway, Willerby Road, Hull, HU5 5LH, United Kingdom

Swiss Railways A-Z Part 2
2026-02-18 19:30 - 22:00 | SOE Eastleigh, Junction Church (formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute), 2 Romsey Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9FE, United Kingdom

Lance King in Ulster, 1957-1970, The NCC in Action
2026-02-19 14:00 - 16:30 | CHR Bassil Shippam Centre, Tozer Way, St Pancras, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 7LG, United Kingdom
The NCC (“Northern Counties Committee”) was the Irish arm of the LMS (and the MR before that). The talk is mainly 1958 – 1970 when the NCC ran the last mainline steam in these islands. Using the slides of the late Lance King, I will take you on a trip along the lines still open from Larne Harbour (ship to Scotland) to Belfast, then from Belfast to Londonderry and Portrush. Along the route, a few flasbacks to earlier days in Black and White. A short diversion to show NCC locos on the former Great Northern. We finish with an extensive coverage of “The Spoil Trains”: Thousand ton trains of stone worked by a 2-6-4T at each end – lots of lovely action shots. Steam’s Last Challenge”

WRD - Steam to Scarborough
2026-02-19 14:00 - 17:00 | WRD Shipley, Saltaire Methodist Church, Saltaire Road, Shipley, BD18 3HJ, United Kingdom
with Colin Smith

NEA Branch - Producing the RO and a Few of his Travels
2026-02-19 19:00 - 21:30 | NEA Darlington, Darlington Cricket Club, South Terrace, Darlington, DL1 5JD, United Kingdom
presented by Railway Observer Managing Editor, Mike Robinson

CHM Branch - 50 Years of the High Speed Train
2026-02-19 19:00 - 22:00 | CHM Cheltenham, Victory Club, Burlington House, Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2SY, United Kingdom
Alex Wood comes to Cheltenham to review what is probably the most iconic train which rode the rails of the UK.

Surrey Branch - In search of Narrow Gauge steam – from Damascus to Dunedin
2026-02-19 19:15 - 21:30 | SRY Woking, Woking United Reform Church, White Rose Lane, Woking, GU22 7HA, United Kingdom
In search of Narrow Gauge steam – from Damascus to Dunedin
By James Waite

Locomotive & Coach Liveries, Part 3
2026-02-21 14:30 - 16:30 | SCT Edinburgh, Scots Guards Club, 2 Clifton Terrace,, Edinburgh, EH12 5DR, United Kingdom
Stuart Malcolm returns to delve into his Locomotive and Coach Livery archive, this time covering the last thirty years which has seen an hitherto unprecedented variety of changes a private companies come and go!
