Basingstoke Station circa 1915  

(Picture courtesy of Basingstoke Willis Museum)

Basingstoke Station 2010 

(Picture by Ian Francis)

Basingstoke Station 2012

  (Picture by David Brace)

We are pleased you have found the official web site of the

Basingstoke & District Railway Society.

The Society was formed in 1974 to provide entertainment on railway related matters. 

We meet twice monthly on a Wednesday evening between 19.45 and 22.00 at the Wote Street Club in the Basingstoke Town Centre.

Our membership number is around 90, male and female, young and old, and our meeting attendance is typically 40 to 45. The majority of our meetings take the form of an illustrated presentation by a top quality speaker.

Visitors are welcome at all our regular meetings on payment of a small admission fee. 

Members pay an annual subscription, plus a reduced admission fee at each meeting and enjoy many other benefits.

For those historians amongst you, we are pleased to include Chris Tolley's 'A History of the Railways around Basingstoke', now accessible from our History page.

You can read much more About Us or can Contact Us by using these links or clicking on the tabs above.

11th October 2017

Branch Lines, Beeching and Black Smoke

Gerald Daniels presents a selection of pictures covering steam pre-diesel / electric on BR, Beeching closures and steam from South Africa.

25th October 2017

The Withered Arm - A Personal Journey

Howard Sprenger presents a journey over as many ex-SR lines west of Exeter as can be fitted in 2 hours. Most of the pictures are Howard's own and have never been published.

8th November 2017

Railway History of Southampton

Gordon Adams from the Reading Transport Group gives a presentation on the development of railways in Southampton associated with the docks under railway ownership.

22nd November

Gosling Galavants Again!

Long term member Paul Gosling brings us up to date with his travels in the UK over the past few years.

To receive email notification before each meeting please send an email with subject "Subscribe" to Publicity@BDRS70D.com

Picture of the Month October 2017

Narrow gauge delight during a recent annual open day at the privately owned Richmond Light Railway near Staplehurst in Kent. In the foreground is 0-4-0T Chuquitanata, built by Couillet in Belgium in 1885 for Decauville. Discovered in a Peruvian restaurant occupying the site of an old sugar cane plant, restoration took twelve years before steaming in 2016. In the background is Susan, an O & K well tank built in Germany in 1908. Brought to the UK from Belgium in 2008, Susan steamed again in 2013. 

Photograph by Andy Fewster.

Why not enter your picture for next month?  eMail your image to: web@bdrs70d.com

Members can view archive and other Society material with password access on the Member Login page

Bernd Seiler of FarRail Tours has details of a short notice photographic tour planned for rare steam in Mynamar during November 2017.

Contact FarRail Tours directly for booking arrangements. www.farrail.com.

For information about train movements through Basingstoke Station click here

The UK Steam Information website showing steam train schedules click here 

Rail fares between any two stations on the UK network click here

The live departure board for passenger trains from Basingstoke.  Click here

Get the cheapest tickets by splitting your journey!  Click here for the link to the web site with all the information  

Church Street Models, Basingstoke's specialist model shop. Click here for the link to their website.