About the Society
The RCTS is Britain’s leading organisation for people interested in all aspects of railways past, present and future and is highly regarded by both professional railway people and enthusiasts, a position it has held since its formation in 1928.
The RCTS is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, number 1169995. Our VAT number is GB197343335. More about Governance of the Society.
Click the image to view a sample edition from January 2024
Guests
Try out the Society as a guest. Most of the meetings and events are open to visitors.
Donations appreciated.
The Railway Observer
All members receive the Society's magazine online, and a print edition (usually 72 pages) is posted to those choosing a "Printed" membership category.
The magazine covers the current railway scene, including extensive coverage of significant and interesting movements, plus an infrastructure and events update. Urban, Irish and International news is included, together with the latest news from Heritage lines.
Society activities, branch meetings, outdoor visits and rail tours are well represented, as are reviews of the latest publications.
A PDF download
Membership rates for new joiners
Printed RO Membership includes posting of the print edition of The Railway Observer
| Online RO | £10.00 |
| Printed RO UK | £28.00 |
| Printed RO Europe | £52.00 |
| Printed RO Rest of World | £71.00 |
New joiners are benefiting from a "Welcome" discount of £10. Sign up with Direct Debit and save a further £1.
Volunteering
The Society is run entirely by volunteers, at branch level and nationally. If you have some spare time, and maybe some specialist skills, there are many ways you can help
- Publishing
- Image preparation
- Archiving
- Speaking
- Managing events
- Software development
- Administration
- Research
- Authorship
- Librarianship
News
Czech Holiday 2025 – Ústí nad Labem
Saturday 31 May The report starts with the Saturday daytime activities for those arriving early before the full group got together in the evening. It was just too good not…
Read More
New Publications
2025 has seen a bumper crop of new books published by the RCTS. Head to the shop and click on the image ‘shop for books’ to see details of Railway Journeys,…
Read More
Inspiration takes to the rails
The Railway 200 Exhibition Train “Inspiration” launched at Paddington Station on Thursday 26 June, starting a year long countrywide tour. Headed by 66719, the train passes Twyford en-route to Kidderminster…
Read More
Members Day and AGM 2025
We are delighted to announce the 2025 AGM and Members Day to be held on Saturday 5th April 2025 at Grand Station, Sun Street, Wolverhampton, WV10 0BF. The day commences…
Read More
Members’ Weekend 2024 Report
The 2024 Members’ Weekend and Officers’ Conference The Royal Maritime Hotel – Portsmouth Friday to Sunday 27th – 29thSeptember 2024 The annual Members’ Weekend and Officers’ Conference was based at…
Read More
Czech Holiday Plzeň June 2024
For our third trip to Czechia, following on from Praha in 2022 and Ostrava in 2023, our base for this year was Plzeň. Plzeň is a city in Western Bohemia…
Read MoreUpcoming events
Virtual events coming up...
There is programme of National events held online, typically monthly. Some branches run them too. Members from any branch may attend and guests are very welcome. For National Meetings, there is no charge for members but donations would be appreciated to help defray the costs. Some branches make a charge because venue hire costs still have to be covered.
A ticket is required. Open the event to find the registration link, and the donations link.
For 2023-24 we have a 500-seat Zoom licence.
On today
Archive And Library Open Day – CANCELLED
RCTS Library Leatherhead Station Approach, LeatherheadArchive And Library Open Day Cancelled due to us STILL awaiting completion of the interior works by GTR.
TVY Branch – The Mangotsfield Triangle – Lost Midland Railway routes to Bristol and Bath
TVY Didcot Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Road, DidcotThe talk describes the long and complex story of railways around Mangotsfield where the first railway transporting coal arrived in 1832. We then follow the history with various railway companies…
Forty Years on the footplate
HSD Hull The Highway, Willerby Road, HullPlease always use https://rcts.org.uk. Users of https://www.rcts.org.uk cannot advance the month.
A fix will be applied at a quiet time for the website.
Society full calendar
Visit the branch pages to discover upcoming events in your specific area.
Calendar of Events
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A Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City branch presentation by Stephen Gay. Travelling from Frickley to Finningly, Mexborough to Moorends and Bentley, Bessacarr to Bawtry. This is a railway journey which… |
2 events,
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On Wednesday 1st October Ian Reese will be leading a walk along the west bank of the River Usk and into the Pillgwenlly area of Newport to show us the… |
1 event,
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Geoff Grant, Stakeholder Manager for West Midlands Trains, gives an overview of the key priorities facing the company in terms of their fleet, customer experience, accessibility and innovation. |
1 event,
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Kit Spackman, who was the Tilt System Development Engineer on the APT-E programme, will explain the fascinating story of the whole APT Programme. |
1 event,
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Archive And Library Open Day Cancelled due to us STILL awaiting completion of the interior works by GTR. |
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1 event,
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IAN CROWDER - “The Forgotten Standard”. Ian Crowder is Marketing Director of Toddington Standard Locomotive Ltd (TSLL), owners of Standard Class 4 2-6-0 No. 76077 and which is nearing the… |
1 event,
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A talk by Andrew Gainsbury with photography by Jeremy Segrott |
3 events,
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Archive And Library Open Day Cancelled due to us STILL awaiting completion of the interior works by GTR.
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Our original speaker, Norman Turnbull, has had to withdraw for health reasons but, in his place, we are delighted to welcome Mike Robinson, a Society Trustee and Managing Editor of…
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Society Secretary Richard Morris visits us to look at the operations of the InterCity 125, or High Speed Train, from the point of view of the enthusiast. Expect lots of…
£3.50 – £5
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6 events,
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A Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City branch presentation by George Howe. George tells us that: This will be a slide show which will take you back to the steam era…
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The presentation covers the history and development of Vintage Trains in Birmingham to Train Operating Company status, together with the Tyseley collection of steam and diesel locomotives. Mike also illustrates…
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Andy delves into the archives with more gems from the Peter Fox collection - with material from both the local area and further afield. |
2 events,
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Archive And Library Open Day Cancelled due to us STILL awaiting completion of the interior works by GTR. |
3 events,
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presented by Ted Parker Members please note - The Branch Annual General Meeting will take place before this presentation, commencing at 18:30
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Geoff Plumb travels from Hertfordshire to give us the first instalment of his extensive "That was the year that was" series. These presentations have something for absolutely everyone.
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Railway 200 and the NRM’s 50th Birthday By Andrew McLean - Assistant Director And Head Curator, The Railway Museum |
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David Mitchell opens our 2025/26 programme with his 5th talk on local railways, as the author of a number of local interest books David draws on his extensive archive and…
£2
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As a former Works Manager at Wolverton with a fifty-year career history with many years as a senior engineering manager and director within the rail industry. In retirement Mike is…
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Remote Speaker Physical meeting at Shenfield Parish Hall which will also be available on Zoom as a Hybrid Meeting. Using material from Online Transport Archive, Charles will show a selection… |
3 events,
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Archive And Library Open Day Cancelled due to us STILL awaiting completion of the interior works by GTR.
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The talk describes the long and complex story of railways around Mangotsfield where the first railway transporting coal arrived in 1832. We then follow the history with various railway companies… |
1 event,
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Richard Coghlan presents a picture show of the line from Didcot to Southampton via Winchester Chesil, closed between 1960 & 1962. An array of ‘then & now’; some dates; pictures… |
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North East Branch is hosting the Annual Members Weekend from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th October. Base camp for the weekend is the Bannatyne Hotel in Darlington. For further information… |
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A review over the years – steam, diesels and electrics, with the odd deviation along the way
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The Spa Valley Railway is now well established as one of our nearest heritage railways, and today Brian Halford returns to tell us of its latest developments.
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A Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City branch presentation by Chris Wright. Details to follow. Doors open 13:30 for a 14:00 start.
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This is not as forbidding as it sounds and because of its nature, it lends itself to audience participation. |
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Sadly, this visit has had to be cancelled, but we may try again at some time during 2026 - watch this space! A visit has been organised to the Avanti… |
1 event,
Featured
Virtual Event
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Featured
Virtual Event
2017 was a Special Year for Robin Patrick, and tonight he looks back at it. His presentation covers a whole year of photography, featuring both steam & modern traction, including… |
2 events,
Members of the RCTS South Wales branch will be taking our preloved book stall to the 37th Cardiff Model Railway show, held this year over the first weekend in November…
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Archive And Library Open Day- CANCELLED Cancelled due to ongoing interior works by Govia Thameslink Railway. |
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Members' area
The latest edition of The Railway Observer, plus back copies from 2012
Details of benefits available to RCTS members
The directory of Society officers
Officers' administration tools
RCTS-branded clothing sales
Membership renewals for 2024 [opens November 2023]
Branches
The Society has a national network of 28 branches. Each branch has its own committee and operates its own programme of events. Members are assigned to a home branch but are welcome to take part in other branches' activities.
Guests are always welcome.
Features
The Society has several online information services maintained by our dedicated and knowledgeable members. The various features are regularly updated, and we welcome contributions from members and non-members alike.
Each feature has a editor. Click the images to explore.
Diesel Dilemmas
Mysteries and anomalies in the modification and disposal history of British Railways diesel locomotives.
Carriage Conundrums
Mysteries and anomalies in the modification and disposal history of British Railways locomotive hauled coaching stock.
Preserved Coaches
Additions, deletions, movements and modifications to lists of preserved railway rolling stock, regularly updated.
Haulage Highlights
Seasonal services, relief trains, special events and unusual routes, mostly with diesel traction.
Query Corner
Written queries and answers are published here and in The Railway Observer
“Our” Locos
A number of locomotives have proudly carried The Railway Observer nameplate or been associated with the Society. No, we don't own these locomotives, but they are thought of as "ours".
TOPS Reference Data
The Society maintains several datasets of TOPS data for Cl.01/5, Cl.89, Cl.97 and Cl.98 Locomotives, Depot Codes and Locomotive Pool Codes, all of which are regularly updated.
NEW - John Knight's Database of Railway Photography
John Knight is a picture researcher. His database of southern and western England records details of 172,000 images published in 6,500 books.
This RCTS Feature initially opens on an interactive map. When you zoom in, each yellow dot represents a camera location. The background can be changed between contemporary maps, satellite images, and historical Ordnance Survey maps - including the detailed 1:10,560 Series. The dot has a reference number for subsequent searches. Please allow a few seconds for the map to load fully.
There are several other tabs alongside the map. One is the User Guide which explains what data is available and how to undertake searches.
Other tabs are lists of books, authors, photographers, railway companies, locomotive classes, and the like. All are searchable.
NB. The database is an index only. For copyright reasons, the photographs are not reproduced, but there are live links to where each book is currently available to purchase. Usually these are second-hand booksellers.
The RCTS Digital Archive
Photographs
Over 57,000 images are available to purchase as prints or as digital downloads.
The archive also includes many thousands of non-RCTS copyright images. They are available for people to view only online for their personal researches. Users must register (i.e. obtain a Readers' Card) and sign in to gain access.
Publications
A complete collection of the Society's magazine The Railway Observer is available to read online and to purchase as PDF downloads. 1928-2011 is publicly available from the archive; 2012 onwards restricted via the Members' Area.
Many of the Society's publications are available on a similar basis, including definitive series such as Locomotives of the LNER, Locomotives of the GWR, and Locomotives of the Southern. Also locomotive and coaching stock books.
Shop
The items listed below are currently available to purchase, some at sale prices. Click on the product images to read full details of each item.
RCTS members are advised to use the Shop pages in the Member's Area to gain access to exclusive products and special discounts.
Shipping is charged on the whole order. There is a flat rate of £4 for UK addresses, or 40% of the order value for non-UK address, calculated as the basket is added to.
Payment can be made by credit/debit card into the Society's Paypal account. You do not need your own Paypal account to use this service.
Second-hand books are sold by the Library. The list of books available is updated regularly, and is not limited to RCTS publications.
RCTS Publications
RCTS has been a renowned publisher of definitive books on locomotives and other railway subjects since 1935. The books are available online and trade enquiries are welcome. Many are now out of print but you can find a bibliography of all books by following More about RCTS Publications below.
Become an author? Click the button to find out more.
New printing technology means that it has become economic to republish some of the back catalogue, a process that is underway. If you cannot wait, copies are available to view at the Society's library at Leatherhead and second-hand copies may be available to purchase from there.
Featured publications
Categories
Locomotives of the LNER
The definitive series - originally published in 19 parts 1963-1994 - is now available again, in eight volumes.
- Book orders are fulfilled globally by Amazon. The links below point to the Amazon UK shop. In other countries, search Amazon using "Locomotives of the LNER".
- PDF downloads are fulfilled by a separate RCTS online shop at https://archive.rcts.org.uk/rcts-shop/
Volume 1
Cover: Hardback
Price: £18
Volume 1
Cover: Softback
Price: £12
Volume 2
Cover: Softback
Price: £24
Volume 3
Cover: Softback
Price: £21
Volume 4&5
Cover: Softback
Price: £24
Volume 6
Cover: Softback
Price: £24
Volume 7&8
Cover: Softback
Price: £18
Volume 9
Cover: Softback
Price: £18
Volume 10
Cover: Softback
Price: £18