Croydon & South London [CSL]
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the formation of the Croydon & South London Branch: our first meeting was held in September 2002. The first twenty years of the Branch’s existence have seen it hold many interesting meetings and other events, and overcome a number of challenges – culminating in the suspension of face-to-face meetings as Covid-19 struck, which led to the Branch being a Society pioneer in holding meetings via Zoom. However, with the abatement of the pandemic, we have resumed face-to-face meetings in Croydon and Redhill, which we hope will continue for many years.
Meetings for our twenty first season are currently being organised: for details of coming meetings see under ‘What’s On’ below. In addition to our regular evening meetings in Croydon on the second Tuesday of the month, we be holding our usual biannual afternoon meetings in Redhill, and our annual pre-Christmas dinner (see Autumn Branch Newsletter). Our January and February meetings – in the depths of winter – will be held, it has been decided, will be held virtually, via Zoom.
To keep Branch Members informed the Branch maintains an e-mail list. If you would like to be added to this, please contact the Branch Web Co-ordinator, Jeremy Harrison, at croydon.web@rcts.org.uk .
A Branch newsletter is produced periodically, and sent to branch members. These are also available for download:
Autumn (November) 2022 Branch Newsletter
What's on
Venues
Click the venue name to see more
Contacts
Jeremy Harrison
(see below)
Secretary and Exhibitions Officer
Treasurer and Web Co-ordinator
Committee Members
Meeting reports
21st March 2023: West from Paddington – A Broad Gauge Journey, by Brian Arman
In March we had two meetings. For the second, on March 21st, we had our RCTS President, Rev. Canon Brian Arman, taking us on a Broad Gauge Journey West from…
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14th March 2023: Around the World with 155 Hunslet 4-6-0Ts, by Kim Winter
These 155 Hunslet engines were built for WW1 to a 1905 design for the Empire, with a further 8 post war. The War Office Locomotive Trust, whose objective is the…
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14th February 2023: That Was the Year that Was – 1965, by Geoff Plumb
Geoff’s father took an active role in the RCTS, so Geoff went with him on many RCTS railtours. Geoff received a new camera for his 14th birthday 2 years before;…
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10th January 2023: Railways at the Dawn of Nationalisation, 1946-49, from the Sutton Coldfield Railway Society’s Moseley collection
For our 10th January meeting, held via Zoom, we welcomed back Robin Mathams, with “Railways at the Dawn of Nationalisation”. 96 people signed in, including several of our German friends.…
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13th December 2022: The Work of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) was established in 2005, following a recommendation from the Cullen enquiry, as the independent body for investigating accidents and incidents on mainline railways, metros,…
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8th November 2022: Railways of the former USSR
The Beatles had a song entitled, ‘Back in the USSR’, and that’s where Jeremy Harrison took us at our meeting on the 8th November, with a presentation – all on…
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11th October 2022: The Masked Gricer
What did you do in Lockdown? We found out what Simon Colbeck had done at our meeting on 11th October 2022: he had spent quite a bit of his time…
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20th September 2022: 30850 Lord Nelson: its restoration & operation
Former Southern Railway 4-6-0 E850 Lord Nelson is part of the National Collection. Currently based on the Watercress Line awaiting a return to service, it was at one time a…
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13th September 2022: Remembering the end of Southern Steam – a personal view 50 years later
Our 21st season started on 13th September with our monthly evening meeting in Croydon, when Des Shepherd presented ‘Remembering the End of Southern Steam – a Personal View 50 Years…
Read More![Southern Railway (ex LBSCR) D1 class 0-4-2T No. 2356 propels a Horsham train out of Shoreham-by-Sea, as filmed by Eric Sparks, ca. 1938. Image credit: Old Steam Railways, ca. 1938 filmed by Eric Sparks [Screen Archive South East]](https://rcts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/3378aprint300-300x244-landscape-070f9f5e18f2c6c89b93ea15eb40f7c7-.jpg "3378aprint300")
10th May 2022: Southern Steam 1897-1967 on Film
Southern Railway (ex LBSCR) D1 class 0-4-2T No. 2356 propels a Horsham train out of Shoreham-by-Sea, as filmed by Eric Sparks, ca. 1938. Image credit: Old Steam Railways, ca. 1938…
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12 April 2022: Croydon & South London Branch AGM and Members’ Images
Our last physical meeting before COVID struck – the 2020 Branch AGM – featured the Branch Photo Competition, in which the wiinning image was Jeremy Harrison’s image of ‘Society Locomotive’…
Read More21st September 2021 · On-Line Afternoon Meeting: Scans from Lockdown
Presenter: Colin Miell Our autumn afternoon gathering at Redhill was replaced, for the second year, by a virtual meeting on Zoom. On 21st September we welcomed Colin Miell who gave…
Read More13th September 2021 On-Line Meeting: Travels with the late Ray Miller – Transport Delights of the U.K. and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s.
Presenter: Simon Colbeck For our Zoom meeting on Monday 13th September Simon Colbeck gave a presentation to 62 participants on “Travels with the late Ray Miller: Transport Delights of the…
Read More9th August 2021 · On-Line Meeting: A Year in Lockdown
Presenter: Jack Boskett At our last Zoom meeting of the season, on Monday 9th August, Jack Boskett gave a presentation entitled “A Year in Lockdown”. Jack is an enthusiast and…
Read More12th July 2021 · On-Line Meeting: Exhibition Prints of the Late Malcolm Ranieri, FRPS
For our Zoom meeting on Monday 12th July we were treated to a presentation of Mounted Exhibition Prints and Other Images of the Late Malcolm Ranieri FRPS, scanned for presentation…
Read More14th June 2021 · On-Line Meeting: The Modern Scene Today, Part 1
Our 2021 Zoom season continued on Monday 14th June with a presentation by Julian Clark from Chichester Branch on “The ‘Modern’ Scene Today, Part 1”. This was a talk given…
Read More10th May 2021 · On-Line Meeting: 3P20 and Other Trains
Presenter: Richard Newton Our Zoom presentation for May 2021 was by Richard Newton, entitled “3P20 and Other Trains”. In his introduction Richard explained that he and some other enthusiasts with…
Read More12th April 2021 · On-Line Meeting: The Rise, Wobble and Fall of the Commercial Light Railway
Presenter: George Falkner Our 2021 season continued on Monday 12th April with a Zoom presentation by George Falkner entitled “The Rise, Wobble and Fall of the Commercial Light Railway” which…
Read More16th March 2021 · On-Line Afternoon Meeting: Half a Century Has Passed
Presenter: Geoff May Our “Zoom” season continued on Tuesday afternoon 16th March (in place of our regular spring afternoon meeting in Redhill) with a presentation by Geoff May entitled “Half…
Read More8th March 2021 · On-Line Meeting: Branch AGM, followed by Operating Clan Line
Presenter: Chris Meredith Our season of “Zoom” meetings continued on Monday 8th March when the Branch Annual General Meeting took place in this format. Thirty-four members participated out of a…
Read More8th February 2021 · On-Line Meeting: Steam around the World – A German View, 1970 to 2019
Presenter: Guenter Oczko Our season of “Zoom” meetings continued on Monday 8th February, when the advantage of holding “virtual” meetings enabled us to have a presentation from Germany by Guenter…
Read More11th January 2021 · On-Line Meeting: The Southern Electric Locomotives
Presenter: Simon Lilley With the Covid-19 pandemic continuing and the reintroduction of the “lockdown” we began 2021 with a “Zoom” meeting on Monday 11th January attended by 63 participants, when…
Read More14th December 2020 · On-Line Meeting: A Touch of Winter
Presenter: Peter Robins We closed 2020 with another “Zoom” meeting on Monday 14th December when Peter Robins gave a presentation entitled “A Touch of Winter” to a record audience, for…
Read More9th November 2020 · On-Line Meeting: That Was The Year That Was – 1962
Presenter: Geoff Plumb Our penultimate “Zoom” meeting of 2020 took place on Monday 9th November when Geoff Plumb gave a photographic presentation entitled “That Was the Year That Was –…
Read More10th October 2020 · On-Line Meeting: Edward Thompson
Presenter: Simon Martin We continued our series of “Zoom” virtual meetings on Monday 10th October when 52 participants – our best attendance yet for a “Zoom” meeting, including one from…
Read More22nd September 2020 · On-Line Meeting: The Restoration of 34081 92 Squadron
Presenter: Steve Lacey Our regular autumn afternoon meeting at Redhill was replaced by a “Zoom” meeting on Tuesday 22nd September in which retired G.P. Dr. Steve Lacey gave a visual…
Read More14th September 2020 · On-Line Meeting: Southern Steam 1899-1961
Presenter: Jeremy Harrison We continued our series of “Zoom” virtual meetings on Monday 14th September, when Jeremy Harrison presented a selection of black-and-white photographs entitled “Southern Steam 1899-1961”, drawn from…
Read More10th August 2020 · On-Line Meeting: From Platform Bench to Viaduct Maintenance
Presenter: Phil Deaves We returned to “Zoom” for our fourth successive virtual meeting on Monday 10th August. Thirty-five members and guests took part on line from their respective homes near…
Read More13th July 2020 · On-Line Meeting: More Southern from the RCTS Photographic Archive
Presenter: David Jackman Our third successive virtual meeting, again using “Zoom” and organised by Jeremy Harrison and David Jackman, took place in mid-July, as we compensated for lockdown blues by…
Read More8th June 2020 · On-Line Meeting: Members’ Images
During the continuing lock-down, and following on from the success of our first on-line meeting, we had another virtual meeting using “Zoom” on Monday 8th June, arranged by the Branch…
Read More11th May 2020 · On-Line Meeting: Members’ Images
On account of the current coronavirus lockdown our regular meeting scheduled for 11th May had, like all Society meetings, had to be cancelled, at least in conventional form. In its…
Read More9th March 2020 · Branch AGM, Photo Competition and Members’ Slides
Our seventeenth Branch AGM took place on Monday 9th March. The format that has become traditional over the years was repeated this year, in that the formalities of the AGM were…
Read More10th February 2020 · Boat Train Routes through Kent since the 1890s:
Presenter: Brian Stephenson In sharp contrast to Brian Garvin’s presentation in January featuring steam behind the Iron Curtain, our meeting on 10th February stayed much nearer home for Brian Stephenson’s…
Read More13th January 2020 · Steam Behind the Iron Curtain:
Presenter: Brian Garvin Our 2020 programme started on Monday 13th January, when Brian Garvin, well known European railway enthusiast and photographer, presented a comprehensive show entitled “Steam Behind the Iron…
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