The Railway Correspondence & Travel Society

HSD branch - As I see it
2024-02-20 19:30 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | HSD Hull, The Highway, Willerby Road, Hull, HU5 5LH, United Kingdom
As I see it

Leatherhead Station & Stationmasters House
2024-02-21 19:30 - 22:00 | SOE Eastleigh, Junction Church (formerly Eastleigh Railway Institute), 2 Romsey Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9FE, United Kingdom
RCTS Archive & Library Officer Andy Davies illustrates the importance of this facility

Multiple units around the UK. by James Sutcliffe
2024-02-23 19:30 - 22:00 | LNW Preston, Fulwood Lawn Tennis Club, Watling Street Road, Preston, PR2 8DY, United Kingdom

South Western Railway update
2024-02-26 19:30 - 22:00 | MHD Cox Green, Cox Green Community Centre, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, SL6 3AX, United Kingdom
We welcome Steve Tyler, Performance and Planning Director of South Western Railway to give an update on the latest developments with one of our busiest train operators

East Anglia in the 2020s
2024-02-27 14:00 - 16:30 | HTC Welwyn, Digswell Village Church Hall, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL6 0DH, United Kingdom
A Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City branch presentation.
Presenter: Iain Scotchman.
Details to follow.
Doors open 13:30.

An historic account of electric traction systems - Dave Saunders
2024-02-27 19:30 - 21:30 | EMD Nottingham, The New Mechanics, 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham, NG1 4EZ, United Kingdom

That was the year that was - 1962
2024-02-28 19:15 - 21:30
‘Geoff was born in Sheffield in 1949, into a railway-mad family, starting his railway enthusiasm at the age of around 18 months. After some early attempts with the family Box Brownie camera in the 1950s, he was given his first ‘proper’ camera for his thirteenth birthday in March 1962, this eventually leading to his career as a Television Cameraman. The first half of the presentation covers his early background before moving on to a variety of high quality (mainly Black & White) images taken around the country during 1962.’

Croydon & South London Branch Lunch
2024-02-29 12:30 - 15:30 | Toby Carvery, Redhill, 2 Redstone Hill, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 4BL, United Kingdom
As a change from having a Branch Christmas Dinner at the Porter and Sorter in Croydon, this season we have decided to have a Branch Lunch, at the Redhill Toby Carvery, which is very close to Redhill Station. Table is booked for 13:15; meet in the bar area from 12:15 for a pre lunch drink.
The usual Toby Carvery menu will be available: £9.99 if you just want the carvery, or set menu at £11.99 for two courses, or £13.99 for three; with other options available: see on their website at https://www.tobycarvery.co.uk/restaurants/south-east/redhillsurrey/carverymenu#/. We will make our choices, and settle up individually, on the day.
NB: numbers are limited, so please book in advance (first come, first served) by contacting Chris Meredith, Branch Chairman, at croydonchairman@rcts.org.uk, by Friday 23rd February at the latest.

A Southern Miscellany, from the RCTS Photographic Archive
2024-02-29 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
David Jackman will present “A Southern Miscellany”, as seen through the lens of photographers who have passed their images to the Society’s Photographic Archive, featuring a potpourri of photographs from the 1950s onwards (mainly from the 60s and 70s), including a wide selection of steam, diesel and electric motive power across the region, from the days of British Railways to Privatisation.
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.

'My Early Years' - B&W in the 1950s Presented by Arthur Turner
2024-03-01 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 President Arthur Turner will present ‘My Early Years’, with Black & White pictures from the 1950s.

Archive and Library Open Day
2024-03-02 11:00 - 16:00, 2024-03-07 11:00 - 16:00, 2024-03-13 11:00 - 16:00 | RCTS Library, Leatherhead Station Approach, Leatherhead, KT22 7SQ, United Kingdom

SCT Transforming the West Highland Line
2024-03-02 14:30 - 16:30 | SCT Edinburgh, Scots Guards Club, 2 Clifton Terrace,, Edinburgh, EH12 5DR, United Kingdom
Mid-day ‘Jacobite’ to Mallaig heads west from Banavie
Transforming the West Highland Line
The upgrades and transformation of the West Highland Line from the 1980s, including RETB signalling, introduction of DMUs, plus the “Jacobite” steam trains, and the opening/reopening of Loch Awe, Loch Eil Outward Bound and Falls of Cruachan stations.

'That Was the Year That Was - 1973', by Geoff Plumb
2024-03-05 19:00 - 21:30 | WFD Watford, Beechen Grove Baptist Church, Clarendon Road, Watford, WD17 1JJ, United Kingdom
Starting with a visit to the border area of West and East Germany at Bebra in January 1973, followed by scenes on the ‘Erzbergbahn’ (Iron Mountain Railway) and the Steyrtalbahn in snowy Austria, then moving on to the Royal opening of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in May. The main event is a visit to Java for ancient steam locos and a look at Singapore and Malaysia. Finally a few preservation scenes back in the UK to round things off.
Please note this is a physical meeting, in the First Floor Conference Room at Beechen Grove Baptist Church, doors open from around 18:30 for a 19:00 start.

steam curiosities
2024-03-06 19:30 - 21:30
clive holden will outline the curious on our railways

Peterborough Trams - a distant memory
2024-03-07 19:00 - 21:00 | PBR Peterborough, St Luke’s Church, Mayor's Walk, Peterborough, PE3 6EZ, United Kingdom
Brendan Fox explores the Peterborough tram systems which ran from 1903 to 1930. The presentation includes other items of interest in Peterborough’s history.

Britain's Railways Through The Lens - an evening with Jack Boskett
2024-03-07 19:30 - 22:00 | MKY Milton Keynes, Network Rail - The Quadrant: MK, Elder Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK9 1EN, United Kingdom
Back by popular demand, our first face to face meeting of the season welcomes multi award winning photographer Jack Boskett, who has an extensive catalogue of railway images in his portfolio and regularly travels across the UK to follow different excursions and special train movements.

A Medley Medley 4
2024-03-09 19:00 - 21:30 | WEN Exeter [Mint Methodist Church], Fore Street, Exeter, EX4 3AT, United Kingdom
Following on from the success of his last talk John returns with another selection of pictures from his extensive collection. It promises to be an evening of nostalgia from John as he cover some of the more unusual trains to pass through Devon in the recent past.
Please note owing to a concert at the Mint, no on site parking available for this meeting, please contact the Chair or Secretary for details of alternative parking arrangements

Swindon Works-The Golden Years-Part V Hawksworth to Closure of the Works by Rev Canon Brian Arman
2024-03-11 19:15 - 21:45 | IPS Ipswich, Greenfinch Church Hall, Greenfinch Avenue, Ipswich, IP2 0SQ, United Kingdom

European Steam – a Video Miscellany
2024-03-11 19:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Meeting, Virtual Meeting, United Kingdom
Michael Grieves started taking cine film in the 1960s, and from 1969 into the 1970s, took much on various trips to Europe in search of steam, which has now been scanned into digital format. Tonight he will show a miscellany, drawing from trips to Czechoslovakia, Austria – featuring the Vordernberg rack line in winter – and Portugal, accompanied by his own commentary.
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.

Visit to Doncaster
2024-03-12

San Francisco cable cars - Tom Ingall
2024-03-12 19:30 - 21:30 | EMD Nottingham, The New Mechanics, 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham, NG1 4EZ, United Kingdom

Keith Marshall: A day return from Settle to Carlisle with preserved steam and BR diesels
2024-03-12 19:30 - 21:30 | SFD Sheffield Farm Road Sports & Social Club, Farm Road, Sheffield, S2 2TP, United Kingdom
Note this is a change from the previously advertised speaker

“Cambridge Area Railways Yesterday and Today (Part 3)” by David Scudamore
2024-03-12 19:30 - 22:00 | CBR Fulbourn, Cambridge, The Swifts, Haggis Gap, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5HD, United Kingdom
This third talk in David’s popular series on railways around Cambridge, from their opening to today, begins with the line from Cambridge to Audley End and then eastwards via Saffron Walden to Bartlow Junction. The route back towards Cambridge is followed as far as Shepreth Branch Junction where we take the Kings Cross line to Hitchin, calling in on the Barrington Light Railway. The presentation concludes with an examination of the former LNWR line from Cambridge to Oxford as far as Sandy on the GNR mainline.

A Lifetime of Railway Photography
2024-03-12 19:30 - 22:00 | CSL Croydon, East Croydon United Reformed Church, Addiscombe Grove, Croydon, CR0 5LP, United Kingdom
Not quite a lifetime, John took his first picture at the age of nine using his mother’s rather ancient folding camera. He was already interested in railways as most boys of his generation were, where the passion came from for recording what he saw on film is lost in the mists of time but it’s been continuous ever since he acquired a simple Ilford camera for his twelfth birthday. He began to realise that the steam railway that he was privileged to grow up with was fast disappearing giving him greater impetus to carry on, the only limiting factor was finance as it all had to be funded from pocket money and the proceeds of a paper round. Later when he started work he acquired more sophisticated equipment and recorded the end of steam on the Southern and in the NW and following that the preservation scene right up to the present day. He hopes there will be something of interest to everyone. If you remember his previous presentation to the branch, you will very much make this a date for your diary.

Branch AGM + The Son of a Rail Enthusiast
2024-03-12 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 Event.
The branch AGM – followed by a presentation given by Richard Cole, son of David Cole who was the founder of the branch and a Vice President of the RCTS. Richard will be looking through some of his dad’s slides and explaining how his passion for railways influenced his life. He will review his 41 years on the railway, touching on various parts of BR such as Red Star Parcels, Railfreight/Channel Tunnel through to the Intercity Express Programme, Transport for Wales and MetroWest schemes.
The AGM will start at 19:30 and the presentation will follow immediately (estimated 20:00)
Papers for the AGM appear as a supplement to the February issue of “Railway Ramblings” (The branch newsletter).
Doors open: 19:00

The Great Train Robbery 1963 : The Story
2024-03-13 19:00 - 22:00
The in-depth story of the planning and execution of the Great Train Robbery
bu Ian Boskett

The John Wells Collection - Part 2 - Presented by Bryan Acford
2024-03-18 14:00 - 16:00 | Cheylesmore Community Centre, Poitiers Road, Coventry 5JX, Poitiers Road, Cheylesmore,, Coventry, CV3 5JX
On Monday 26th September 2022 our guest speakers, Chris Berridge and Bryan Acford presented Part 1 of the John Wells Collection. Since that date we have sadly lost our Branch Member, Chris Berridge. Part 2 of the excellent John Wells Collection will be presented by his colleague, Bryan Acford. This black and white collection was scanned and restored by Bryan and Part 2 covers the period Jan 1959 – 1964. Images from the lines to the London terminii include Waterloo, Paddington, Kings Cross, Euston and St. Pancras. These will be followed by images taken on Shap and Beattock as well as Cambrian and Highland lines and will include more freight activity than illustrated in Part 1.

Colour Rail - 11th Journey : 1964
2024-03-18 19:30 - 21:45 | MCN Bromborough, The Bromborough Suite. The Merebrook, Greenfields Avenue, Bromborough, Wirral, Merseyside, CH62 6DD, United Kingdom
