Tonight's presentation looks at preservation at UK heritage railways and on the main line. It is a personal observation and was a very difficult – but interesting – task deciding what to show out of several thousand pictures taken by electronic means on Bob's trusty Nikon cameras. It has also been a reminder of what he needs to sort out properly for a useful record!

The evening starts with a look at the very last years of the first decade of the 21st century. There are pictures of various railtours, and a trio of heritage railways, ending with the most recent 2026 Winter Steam Gala at the Great Central Railway.

The evening features a mixture of monochrome pictures scanned from prints and negatives, plus Bob's digital pictures from 2010 onwards, thus spanning from 1956 to 2025, right up to this August.

Bob Stonehouse is a retired science teacher, and former bench chemist with what became GSK. He has been a railway enthusiast since about the age of two when his mother took him to the goods yard at Stowmarket in Suffolk on the GE Norwich main line to watch the activities. He joined the Locomotive Club of Great Britain in 1974 and has since become heavily involved with the running of the LCGB Central London branch, and the LCGB more generally.

Photo: "BR Standard Pacific 70013 'Oliver Cromwell' heads a mainline railtour along the sea wall through Dawlish in 2009. – Bob Stonehouse"

Please see the Programme page for more about Friday meetings.

PLEASE NOTE: Friday meetings are now starting at the earlier time of 7:15pm.
(They will also finish earlier!) The talk will begin promptly at 7:30pm.