The Railway Correspondence & Travel Society

Cardiff Model Engineering Society visit
2025-11-15 10:30 - 13:30 (Europe/London) | Cardiff Model Engineering Society, Heath Park, Cardiff, United Kingdom
The South Wales Branch of the RCTS have arranged a visit to the Cardiff Model Engineering Society miniature railway and tramway at Heath Park in Cardiff to take place on Saturday 15th November. The visit will be taking place on a day when the railway is not open to the public and will give our members to see behind the scenes at the CMES headquarters. Spaces are limited for this visit and should you wish to attend we ask that you contact the branch to register your interest by contacting Philip Stallard on (07854) 078032 or by E-Mailing southwales@rcts.org.uk

An Indian Adventure Part 2 by Simon Starr
2025-11-17 13:30 - 15:45 | MCN Bromborough, The Bromborough Suite. The Merebrook, Greenfields Avenue, Bromborough, Wirral, Merseyside, CH62 6DD, United Kingdom

Steam by Night - Joe Connell
2025-11-17 14:00 - 16:00 | Cheylesmore Community Centre, Poitiers Road, Coventry 5JX, Poitiers Road, Cheylesmore,, Coventry, CV3 5JX
Our speaker, Joe Connell, Official Photographer for the Great Central Railway, will explain the procedures and pitfalls of shooting steam at night.

Not So Much a Hobby, More A Way of Life
2025-11-17 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.
Jim grew up in Stepney Green and his love of railways started when his father took him to Kings Cross to ‘watch the trains’. He remembers seeing A3 Pacifics ‘Pretty Polly’ and ‘Blair Athol’. The latter painted in early British Railways express passenger blue at the time, made an impressive start from Platform 10, with her six big driving wheels slipping violently on the wet, greasy rails. Living in East London meant that he was within easy reach of all the main London Termini. His favourite was the ‘old’ Euston and its Princess Royal Pacifics. He joined British Rail on leaving school. With the decline of steam and having little interest in modern traction he developed and interest in passenger stations particularly the wonderfully oversized buildings on the North London Railway which led to Jim founding the North London Railway Historical Society in 1989 of which he is currently the chairman.
Jim’s talk looks at railway enthusiasm, largely in the twentieth century, and includes many of the items which were produced for enthusiasts and budding enthusiasts over the years. These include books, magazines, models, jigsaw puzzles and gramophone records, along with the expensive O-Gauge models offered by Bassett-Lowke tantalisingly displayed in their Holborn showroom. No doubt there will also be a fair selection of contemporary images of locos, trains and stations too.

Archive And Library Open Day - CANCELLED
2025-11-18 11:00 - 16:00, 2025-11-29 11:00 - 16:00, 2025-12-04 11:00 - 16:00 | RCTS Library, Leatherhead Station Approach, Leatherhead, KT22 7SQ, United Kingdom
Archive And Library Open Day- CANCELLED
Cancelled due to ongoing interior works by Govia Thameslink Railway.

TVY Branch - The History of the North London Line
2025-11-18 14:00 - 16:30 | TVY Didcot, Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Road, Didcot, OX11 7JN, United Kingdom
The presentation explores the fluctuating history of the North London line and includes a photographic journey from Richmond to the former Terminus of Broad Street.

Railways Around Market Weighton
2025-11-18 19:30 - 22:00 | HSD Hull, The Highway, Willerby Road, Hull, HU5 5LH, United Kingdom

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway
2025-11-19 19:30 - 22:00 | SOE Eastleigh, Junction Church (formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute), 2 Romsey Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9FE, United Kingdom

NEA Branch - Jack Armstrong's Darlington
2025-11-20 19:00 - 21:30 | NEA Darlington, Darlington Cricket Club, South Terrace, Darlington, DL1 5JD, United Kingdom
presented by Dave Dunn

CHM Branch - Along Cambrian Lines to Barmouth in the 1960s
2025-11-20 19:00 - 22:00 | CHM Cheltenham, Victory Club, Burlington House, Lypiatt Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2SY, United Kingdom
David Aldred visits to bring us a presentation on the charming mid-Wales line to Barmouth.

South Western Railway
2025-11-20 19:15 - 21:30 | SRY Woking, Woking United Reform Church, White Rose Lane, Woking, GU22 7HA, United Kingdom
South Western Railway
By Alex Foulds, Major Projects Director, South Western Railway

WRD - SELRAP
2025-11-20 19:30 - 22:00 | WRD Shipley, Saltaire Methodist Church, Saltaire Road, Shipley, BD18 3HJ, United Kingdom
David Foat brings us news of the Campaign to reopen the missing link from Skipton to Colne.

WEN Geoff Hudson : The Class 50 Story – The British Rail Years
2025-11-22 19:00 - 21:30 | WEN Exeter [Mint Methodist Church], Fore Street, Exeter, EX4 3AT, United Kingdom
Our second meeting of our 2025/26 welcomes Geoff Hudson former Area Fleet Manager, Laira Depot, Plymouth 1989 – 1996
Class 50’s or D400’s as built were the last batch of first-generation diesel locomotives introduced by British Rail under the Modernisation Plan which saw the demise of steam and the transition to diesel traction. Constructed between 1967 and 1968 Class 50 built on the experience gained with the earlier pioneer diesel locomotives, and was designed with, for then, a host of new systems including inertia filtration, rheostatic braking, slow speed control and, more importantly, the first-generation electronic traction control.
The locomotives were ordered, initially as an interim measure, to provide traction for the northern end of the West Coast Mainline. By the mid 1960’s electrification had reached Crewe and a 100mph locomotive capable of tackling the major inclines of Shap and Beattock was needed to take over from electric traction for the onward journey to Glasgow. On completion of the electrification the class was transferred to the Western Region of British Rail to allow the diesel hydraulic Western Class 52 locomotives to be withdrawn.
Geoff Hudson, former Area Fleet Manager at Laira Depot Plymouth, has had a close association with the class throughout his 50-year railway career and was responsible for the operation and rundown in their final years. In this lecture he explores the origin and development that lead to Class 50, their operation and maintenance, including the reasons for and scope of the extensive refurbishment programme, and the final years and rundown of the class that ultimately lead to preservation of a significant number of the fleet.
We hope you can join us for what promises to be a fascinating evening
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE FROM OUR NORMAL EVENING

Trams at Home and Abroad
2025-11-24 19:30 - 22:00 | MHD Cox Green, Cox Green Community Centre, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, SL6 3AX, United Kingdom
A long-time tram and trolleybus follower, Graham will show us images of just some of the tram systems in the UK and overseas, taken through time.

The Changing Scene on the WCML Southern Section, 1930s to the present day.
2025-11-25 14:00 - 16:30 | HTC Welwyn, Digswell Village Church Hall, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL6 0DH, United Kingdom
A Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City Branch presentation by Rob Freeman.
Details to follow.
Doors open 13:30 for a 14:00 presentation start.

East Coast Main Line disasters - Adrian Gray
2025-11-25 14:00 - 16:30 | EMD Nottingham, The New Mechanics, 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham, NG1 4EZ, United Kingdom
Adrian Gray is a historian who has been writing about railways and local history since his teenage years. This talk was inspired by his regular trips to London for work, travelling from Retford to King’s Cross. The talk will look at some significant fatal accidents and how they gradually contributed to improved safety since the 1850s to almost the present day, with a focus on the London to Edinburgh route

Rail Freight Trains Around The UK
2025-11-26 19:15 - 21:30 | CHR Bassil Shippam Centre, Tozer Way, St Pancras, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 7LG, United Kingdom
“Although freight traffic today generally means stone and containers (of which we will see plenty) we will also see some of the flows of coal which existed until the last few years. Geographical coverage is from Hampshire (a surprising modern day freight “hotspot”) and South Wales to the West Highlands of Scotland”

German Railways in Transition
2025-11-27 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
A presentation by excellent photographer Peter Robins, which, starting with Rheine – Emden steam in 1975, looks at both DB and DR over the years and their transition from steam to diesel and electric traction. Some Plandampf and narrow gauge images are also included.
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.

Branch AGM followed by Members digital images (no 35mm slides)
2025-11-28 19:30 - 22:00 | Fulwood Lawn Tennis club Highgate Ave Preston PR2 8DY, Highgate Ave, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 8DY

WFD Branch – ‘Members’ Presentations’, plus Lizzie’s Mince Pies and Sausage Rolls! 2nd December 2025
2025-12-02 19:00 - 21:30 | WFD Watford, Beechen Grove Baptist Church, Clarendon Road, Watford, WD17 1JJ, United Kingdom
Another chance for Watford Branch members to show off your prowess with a camera (but don’t worry about the quality, feel the width!) – stills or videos, film or digital *. Please bring along some 35mm slides or image files on a memory stick or DVD disc and we’ll endeavour to treat everyone to your photographic efforts – any railway related subjects welcome! Branch members will be given priority, visitors are welcome to bring material as well. Festive refreshments will be available at the half-time break. Please restrict your presentations to around ten minutes running time, so that as many members as possible can contribute.
* Unfortunately we are not able to present ciné film.
Please note this is a physical meeting, doors open from 18:30 for 19:00 commencement of proceedings.

Steam & Diesel in the Northern Fells since 2017 by Ian Pilkington
2025-12-03 13:30 - 15:45 | MCN Liverpool, Haig House Social Club, Woolton Road, Garston, Liverpool, L19 5NQ, United Kingdom

FLL - Branch AGM followed by a video presentation
2025-12-03 19:30 - 22:00 | FLL Carnforth, Royal Station Hotel, Market Street, Carnforth, LA5 9BT, United Kingdom
After our Branch AGM Colin Kennington will show us some videos taken in Germany, Manchester and diversions over the Settle and Carlisle.

Milton Keynes Branch Meeting - Branch AGM followed by member's presentations
2025-12-04 19:30 - 21:30 | MKY Milton Keynes, Network Rail - The Quadrant: MK, Elder Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK9 1EN, United Kingdom
Branch AGM followed by member’s presentations.
The formalities of the AGM are normally concluded in a timely manner, so please also join us for some fun presentations afterwards and maybe a quiz or two!

Bristol Meeting - 'The Swansea Vale Railway' by John Miles.
2025-12-05 19:30 - 22:00 | BTL North Filton, St Teresa’s Church Hall, 71 Gloucester Road, North Filton, BS34 7PL, United Kingdom
The Swansea Vale Railway was a major factor in the life of the Swansea Valley for well over 100 years. Origionally an independent concern, it was taken over by the Midland Railway and hence linked through to the rest of the UK via Brecon. John Miles tells the story of the railway, its employees and passengers.

AGM and members' contributions, Northampton Branch Meeting
2025-12-08 14:00 - 16:30 | NHN Northampton – Weston Favell, Weston Favell Parish Hall, Booth Lane South, Northampton, NN3 3EP, United Kingdom

Visit to Stafford
2025-12-09

Railways to the Sea
2025-12-09 13:30 - 16:00 | HSD Hull, The Highway, Willerby Road, Hull, HU5 5LH, United Kingdom

Sugar, Steam and Sunsets (Java)
2025-12-09 14:00 - 16:30 | HTC Hitchin, St Mark's Church, St Mark's Close, Lancaster Avenue, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1UR, United Kingdom
A Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City Branch presentation by David Longman.
In the early years of this century, David Longman made a series of trips to photograph the remaining steam locomotives working on the narrow gauge sugar lines in Java. Unwilling to join an organised group he travelled the length of the island by bus, motorcycle and becak, locating the various ‘pabrik gula’ and bringing back a snapshot not only of the railways but also the lives of the people of this Indonesian island. Whilst there is now little or nothing left of these wonderful little railways, as road transport has rendered them largely redundant, David will be recalling the people he met, the ‘Beast Of Tasik Madu’ and places his visited during his photographic wanderings.
Doors open 13:30 for a 14:00 start.
There will be an extended interval break! (with Christmas “nibbles”)
