Just to give you 10 days notice of our next meeting on Friday 16 May, when
Tony Ward will give us a slide show on "The Railways of the Colonel Stephens'
Empire". Col Stephens ran some 17 independent and highly individualistic
light railways. The Kent & East Sussex Railway and the Festiniog Railway are
examples of lines that The Colonel controlled that are still running for the
pleasure of tourists, although sadly most of the lines fell prey to the
motor bus and the private car. Read his short article in the May Gazette. Do
come along and support this outside speaker.

Usual place: Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone Road, Swanage, 7.30 pm prompt,
doors open at 7.00 pm. All welcome. Tea/coffee/biscuits and a
railway-oriented raffle as usual.

May I also remind you of our 'S and D Coach Tour' on Sunday 29 June, taking us
to three sites on the route of the former Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway.
Starting from Swanage and picking up from there to Wareham, we shall first
call at Shillingstone for a conducted tour of the Shillingstone Station
Project. We then proceed to Templecombe to ride on the narrow-gauge Gartell
Light Railway. We can take lunch here. We conclude our tour with a visit to
the Somerset & Dorset Mendip Mainline Project at Midsomer Norton. There is
currently plenty of space on the coach, there is a specially reduced price
for children and non-members are welcome. Applications please to Mike
Walshaw, Hon Sec.

Just to give you 10 days notice of our next meeting on Friday 18 April, when
Colin Boocock will give us a slide show on 'Eastleigh Locomotive Works'.
Colin, a professional railway engineer, worked there in the 50's and 60's.
He will cover its history, some detail of his times there, and a brief
summary of the Works' later years and the reasons for its demise. He is
co-author of a book on the Works, which is on sale in Swanage Railway
Bookshop.

Do come along and support this outside speaker.

Usual place: Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone Road, Swanage, 7.30 pm prompt,
doors open at 7.00 pm. All welcome. Tea/coffee/biscuits and a
railway-oriented raffle as usual.

Mike Walshaw, Hon Sec.

Just to give you 10 days notice of our next meeting on Friday 14 March, when
Neil Kearns of the Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society will give us an
illustrated talk about 'The Restoration of SR 850 'Lord Nelson'. You can
read more about this locomotive restoration project in Neil's article in the
March issue of the Purbeck Gazette.

Do support this outside speaker.

Usual place: Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone Road, Swanage, 7.30 pm prompt,
doors open at 7.00 pm. All welcome. Tea/coffee/biscuits and a
railway-oriented raffle as usual.

Mike Walshaw, Hon Sec.

Just to give you 10 days notice of our next meeting on Friday 15 February,
when Neil Lover will give us an illustrated talk relating 'Tales of the
Tiddly Dyke - the MSWJR - the Cheltenham to Andover Line'. This bucolic
cross-country line lost its through services in 1961 and it's now a much
longer way round to get from Andover to Cheltenham! Neil tells me that the
talk tends to travel the same speed as the 'City of Truro' that traversed
the line on many occasions  (i.e. 100 'pictures' per hour). Not a rush, just
a good pace to keep everyone interested. He plans to include aerial pictures
'now and then', timetables, loco's, stations, wartime stories, Swindon
Works, a brewery story, tickets, sky diving!, maps, buttons, a licence
plate, luggage labels, 'Molly and Betty', Phil Harding from 'Time Team',
buses, cycle tracks, etc. As the Southern ran locos up the line, he will
include some 'N' and 'U' Class loco's. As a bonus he will show us some
aerial pictures from Swanage to Wareham. See his website:
www.swindonsotherrailway.co.uk.)

Do support this outside speaker.

Mike Walshaw, Hon Sec.

Just to give you 10 days notice of our next meeting on Friday 11 January we
have a repeat visit by Nick Lera of 'Locomotion Pictures' to show us his
latest DVDs and some unpublished British slides from the '50s and '60s in a
programme entitled 'The Age of Steam at Home and Abroad' featuring the 'Old
Patagonia Express'. For more than 30 years Nick has filmed steam locos at
work on railways around the world. He has captured the unique atmosphere of
steam in regular service carrying people and their goods through bustling
city centres, up high mountain passes, across remote deserts and through
tropical jungles, often in areas of outstanding natural beauty. The results
are considered by many to be the finest motion-picture records of steam
trains.

Usual place: Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone Road, Swanage, 7.30 pm prompt,
doors open at 7.00 pm. All welcome. Tea/coffee/biscuits and a
railway-oriented raffle as usual.

Best Wishes for a Happy New Year to all our valued supporters.
Mike Walshaw, Hon Sec.