Robert Pritchard – 2025 in Review & Branch AGM
MEETING REPORT 14th JANUARY 2026
Once again the January branch meeting was by Zoom and our presenter was Robert Pritchard with his review of the year just ended. As Editor of 'Today’s Railways' Robert travels widely throughout the UK and Europe to keep abreast of the modern railway scene and attend launch events: 2025 was certainly no exception. So as well as visits to 'The Plant' at Doncaster the closure of which had been announced by Wabtec and the threatened Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre at Dudley, Robert travelled on the reopened Northumberland Line to Ashington and to see the last scheduled GWR HSTs running in Cornwall near the end of the year. One particular project, reported in full in the October issue of his own magazine was visits to Britain’s 10 least-used stations: this involved imaginative planning and exhausting execution! Overseas Robert visited the Czech Republic twice, with forays into Germany and Poland as well as having a Scandinavian trip starting in Oslo and ending with a thorough review of the Stockholm tram network. Indeed the UK tramway scene was also well-represented in this show which also treated us to glimpses of a number of miniature and narrow gauge railways as well as set pieces such as the Greatest Gathering at Derby in August. Altogether it was a remarkable compendium of rail activity and is heartily recommended to anyone who missed it. The Branch AGM was held briefly and efficiently following the talk.