Basingstoke Station circa 1915  

(Picture courtesy of Basingstoke Willis Museum)

Basingstoke Station 2010 

(Picture by Ian Francis)

Basingstoke Station 2012

  (Picture by David Brace)

  Welcome   Forthcoming Meetings

Welcome to the Basingstoke & District Railway Society website. 

BDRS was formed in 1974 to provide entertaining lectures, films, illustrated talks and other matters concerning railways, including organised tours and journeys of railway and associated interest.

The Society meets twice monthly on Wednesday evenings between 19.45 and 22.00 in the comfortable surroundings of the Wote Street Club located in Basingstoke Town Centre. 

Follow this link for This Year's Programme . Next Year's Programme when available will be here.

Follow this link to read Reviews of Recent Meetings.

Typical membership is around 80, male and female, young and old, and our average meeting attendance is around the 40 mark. Most of our meetings take the form of an illustrated presentation given by top quality speakers including some of our own members.

Archive and other Society material can be viewed using password access to the Member’s Area and, for the historians and those interested, Chris Tolley's 'A History of the Railways around Basingstoke' and a 21st century update by a long-standing Society member are accessible from our Local Railway History page.

Members pay an annual subscription plus a reduced admission fee at each meeting and enjoy many other benefits. Visitors are welcome at all our regular meetings on payment of an admission fee.

Our twice monthly evening meetings cover a variety of railway orientated subjects both at home and abroad. They embrace mainlines, branch lines and tram systems and include: passenger and freight traffic current and historical; broad, narrow and standard gauges; steam and modern traction; travel and photography; preserved and departed railways; infrastructure; and business and operational matters.

We are always pleased to hear from anyone who could give a railway-orientated presentation on any of these or related topics.

Learn more About Us including how to join by following this link.

To Find Us follow this link; to Contact Us follow this link or use the tab above.

Visit the Society and be welcomed.

13th March 2024

Coast to Coast by Amtrak with David Peel

A slide presentation of David's travels across the USto include the preserved narrow gauge Cumbres and Toltec, and Durango to Silverton railways.

 

27th March 2024

BDRS trip to Switzerland with Ian Francis

Ian gives a presentation on the society's 2023 trip. 

 

10th April 2024

The Arrival of Railways in Reading with Richard Marks

Richard returns with a talk with details of Reading's railways including the Hants and Berks line.

 

24th April 2024

The LMS Patriot Project - Aims and Progress with Colin Hall

The project is building a working Patriot class loco as a National Memorial Engine recreating a railway and heritage Remembrance link established after the Great War and scrapped in the1960s. Inspired by the Great War Centenaries of recent years, the loco will be named "The Unknown Warrior".

 

 

 

 

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

 

Picture of the Month March 2024

 STOP PRESS NEWS

During September 2023, Cumbres and Toltec Class K36 "Mikado" 2-8-2 No 488 simmers at Chama (New Mexico) station at the end of the working day. The loco will move to the coaling stage before going on shed.

The Denver and Rio Grande Western K-36 is a class of ten 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotives built for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) by Baldwin Locomotive Works. They were shipped to the Rio Grande in 1925 and were first used along the Monarch Branch and Marshall Pass, but were later sent to the Third Division out of Alamosa. Of the original ten, four are owned by the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) and five by the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TSRR). 

 

Photograph by Andy Fewster.

  web@bdrs70d.com

Please Note:

We are happy to confirme that the Society has resumed twice monthly meetings at the Wote Street Club. Meetings commence at 7.45pm.

The Wote Street Club requires all attendees to be double vaccinated against Coronavirus, and be able to demonstrate proof of vaccination, or appropriate exemption. Mask wearing is not required.

 

  Member's Area   Other Forthcoming Events


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

 

 

 

  Items of Railway Interest   Society Members Photo Archive

For information about train movements through Basingstoke Station click here

The UK Steam & Modern Traction Railtours  Information website 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 in-town model shop. Click here for the link to their website.

Hampshire Models , Basingstoke's out of town model shop. Click here for the link to their website.

External links to the photographic efforts of current and past society members.

Ian Francis

Andy Fewster

  Website   Design and Maintenance
Launched December 2009       Last updated: 1st March 2024
his site was created by the late Chris Cullingham and has
 been revised and maintained by Members of the Society