For our last online meeting of 2020, SWRS member Chris Zaremba will preside over another of his popular Zoom Quizzes, this time with a festive theme. Questions could be on anything to do with railways, home and abroad.

Don't worry if your railway knowledge is limited; this is mainly a social evening, and you'll soon discover that many of your fellow members know even less! The quiz is self-marked, with no prizes – just 'bragging rights' and a bit of fun.

So, why not grab yourself a drink and a mince pie, a pen and paper, and join us?

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

Yes! It's time for the Annual SWRS Photo Competition.

Although 2020 has been a tad unhelpful in providing photographic opportunities, the SWRS competition rules allow photos taken at any time over the past five years, and members have been busy submitting their entries to John Fowler.

The closing date has passed, and we will be holding the competition on Friday night, over Zoom, and this may present some new opportunities for audience participation (or not!). As ever, it's a festive social evening, so do join us, but you'll have to provide your own drinks and nibbles!

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

Following the end of steam on the Southern in July 1967 (Derek's previous show), the only place to see BR steam was the north of England. Knowing that the end of steam was only a year away, the plan was to make as many visits as time, and particularly money, would allow.

Derek will be showing the results of two visits made at the start and end of August 1967, hopefully including some sound recorded at the time.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

Colin lived just outside Belfast between 1961 and 1965, whilst still at school. He's still very fond of Northern Ireland, and the Republic, and was a very early member of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. As soon as he had a half-reasonable camera, he started capturing the final few years of working steam in Northern Ireland in the late sixties, along with 'not so modern' modern traction.

For this evening, Colin promises us a cross-section of steam and diesel throughout the more recent digital era, 2006 onwards, before eventually going right back as far as 1968 with scans of early Kodachromes. Lots of stuff in-between, mainly courtesy of travelling on and photographing many RPSI steam specials, along with whatever diesel traction was around at the time.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

Ian Silvester is a keen amateur steam railway and wildlife photographer (see www.dorneyphoto.com). He is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, and has presented talks to the SWRS on a number of occasions.

This presentation covers a visit to Romania in August 1995 featuring both narrow gauge and standard gauge steam traction.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

SWRS member Chris Zaremba will preside over another of his SWRS Zoom Quizzes. Questions could be on anything to do with railways, home and abroad. It's self-marked, with no prizes – just 'bragging rights' and a bit of fun. Don't worry if your railway knowledge is limited, this is mainly a social evening, and you'll soon discover that many of your fellow members know even less!

As well as the quiz, there will be social time to chat to other members and to pass on any news you may have.

So, why not grab yourself a drink, and a pen and paper, and join us?

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

It hasn't been a great year for train-spotting (or anything else, come to that!) but SWRS Social Secretary John Coke, and a group of intrepid SWRS members, have been gathering regularly at Twyford station to see what's running. This evening, John will be showing us what he's seen at Twyford, and elsewhere, in 2020.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

SWRS member Chris Zaremba will be chairing another of his popular SWRS Zoom Quizzes, where questions could be on anything to do with railways, home and abroad. It's self-marked, with no prizes – just 'bragging rights' and a bit of fun. Don't worry if you think your railway knowledge is limited, this is first-and-foremost a social evening, so you'll soon discover that many of your fellow members know even less!

As well as the quiz, there will be social time to chat to other members and to pass on any news you may have.

So, why not grab yourself a drink, and a pen and paper, and join us?

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

Rob Holder will be giving us another of his enjoyable evenings of varied transport-related subjects, this time concentrating on his trip to Toronto.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

Earlier this year (before Lockdown!), Simon Colbeck visited The Manor to give us an interesting evening of traction engines and trains.

This time he will be describing his travels to Sri Lanka.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

This week, SWRS member Chris Zaremba will be chairing another of his SWRS Zoom Quizzes. This time it's a 'General Railway Quiz', so questions could be on anything to do with railways, home and abroad. It's self-marked, with no prizes – just 'bragging rights' and a bit of fun. Don't worry if you think your railway knowledge is limited, this is first-and-foremost a social evening, so you'll soon discover that many of your fellow members know even less!

As well as the quiz, there will be social time to chat to other members and to pass on any news you may have.

So, why not grab yourself a drink, and a pen and paper, and join us?

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

Our friend Colin Miell has organised and travelled on many tours to foreign parts of the World with the Locomotive Club of Great Britain (LCGB).

This evening will feature "Golden Oldies Worldwide", including the UK and Ireland, scanned during lockdown – a mixture of colour and black-and-white images, the earliest dating as far back as 1959.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

When Frank Taylor is not compiling editions of Virtual Friday Nights at the Manor, or organising Zoom talks for SWRS, you may find him down in Hampshire as a volunteer, helping to run the Mid-Hants Railway.

This evening, Frank will be giving us a talk about the history of the Watercress Line, no doubt with many 'behind-the-scenes' snippets for us too.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

Derek Spicer is a keen videographer, and a member of Reading Transport Group. He spends many days each year capturing video footage of mainline steam tours and special events on heritage railways.

This evening, Derek will be showing us highlights from his portfolio.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

During lockdown, SWRS member Chris Zaremba has been occupying himself coming up with railway quiz questions. This second SWRS Zoom Quiz will be on the subject of 'Islands'. It's self-marked, with no prizes – just 'bragging rights' and a bit of fun. Don't worry if you think your railway knowledge is limited, this is first-and-foremost a social evening, so you'll soon discover that many of your fellow members know even less!

As well as the quiz, there will be social time to chat to other members and to pass on any news you may have.

So, why not grab yourself a drink, and a pen and paper, and join us?

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

SWRS member Luke Ripley will be describing the journey he made last year from London to Sydney, entirely by surface transport.

Setting off from St Pancras, Luke travelled by rail to China, via the Trans-Siberian Railway, before joining a container ship for the two-week voyage to Brisbane. Once ashore in Australia, he continued by rail to Sydney, with a few stops and side-trips en route. Not an aircraft in sight!

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

Rob Holder will be giving us another of his enjoyable evenings of transport-related subjects. These usually cover a varied mix of recent railway trips, local history, behind-the-scenes views at Heathrow Airport, trains, boats, planes, and more.

Featured this time: SWRS trips, focussing (literally!) on the Society members attending rather than the railways themselves.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

During lockdown, SWRS member Chris Zaremba has been occupying himself coming up with railway quiz questions, and has offered to act as Quiz Master in the very first SWRS Zoom Quiz. To make things a little easier (perhaps?), this first quiz is on the subject of the Western Region (which I hope means everything from Brunel to Hitachi EMUs!). No prizes, just a bit of fun.

As well as the quiz, there will be social time to chat to other members and to pass on any news you may have.

So, why not grab yourself a drink, and a pen and paper, and join us?

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

2020 marks the centenary of the founding of the Slough Trading Company, later Slough Estates Ltd, and now SEGRO.

Jaye Isherwood, author of the definitive history "The Slough Estates Railway", will be giving a presentation about Slough Trading Estate and its railway, for which our locomotive "Slough Estates No.3" was purchased new in 1924.

This meeting will be held online using the Zoom video conferencing software. Members on the SWRS Mailing List will receive instructions for how to take part. If you are an SWRS member and not on the Mailing List, please see the News page for details of how to join.

This evening was scheduled to be a presentation at The Manor, by SWRS member Hattie, about her passion for railways.

Since Hattie has already prepared everything on her computer, she would like to share it from home using Zoom, the video conferencing software. Members on the Mailing List should have received instructions for how to take part. If you are not on the Mailing List, see above for how to join.

Mary Sibley's previous visit to The Manor took us on a Journey through Birmingham by Canal, so it is fairly likely that this evening's topic will have a waterways theme. Join us on Friday to find out...

Ian Silvester is a keen amateur steam railway and wildlife photographer (see www.dorneyphoto.com) and an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society.

In a welcome return visit to The Manor, Ian will cover photographic charter events on many of the UK's heritage railways and some industrial sites, including: the Severn Valley Railway, the East Lancs Railway, the Dean Forest Railway, Cardiff Steel Works and many other locations.

"Travels with a camera" is the sub-title to this evening's talk, which will feature a variety of steam power, both road-going – traction engines, steam wagons, and the like – and railway locomotives, at home and abroad.

Simon Colbeck is a lifelong railway enthusiast and live-steam modeller, and, judging by his Instagram account, he's not half-bad at taking photos either!

Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875), was an English scientist and inventor of many scientific breakthroughs of the Victorian era, including the English concertina, the stereoscope, and the Playfair cipher. However, he is best known for the Wheatstone bridge, used to measure an unknown electrical resistance, and as a major figure in the development of telegraphy.

The very first Cooke-Wheatstone telegraph system was installed by the Great Western Railway between Paddington and Slough in 1841. The telegraph came to public attention after it was used for the conviction of murderer John Tawell in 1845. Tawell had poisoned Sarah Hart at their house in Salt Hill, Slough, then made his escape by train to London. The police were alerted and Tawell's description was telegraphed to Paddington, where he was apprehended. Tawell thus became the first person to be arrested as the result of telecommunications technology.

How do we celebrate Valentine's Day? With an 'Anything Goes' evening: big screen video, ciné, projected prints, or slides, presented by SWRS members and featuring railway or other transport subjects from Great Britain or further afield. (It's open to all, not just SWRS members!)

(NB -- any recognisable acknowledgment of St Valentine or his day is likely to be entirely coincidental!)

If you have films or photos to share with fellow enthusiasts, please bring them along on Friday. (And if you contact info@swrs.co.uk in time, we can advertise your contribution in advance.)

Goring & Streatley railway station is roughly halfway between Reading and Didcot on the main line of the Great Western Railway. Its history dates back to the opening of the line in 1840. In the days of steam traction, Goring Troughs (pictured) enabled locomotives to refill their tenders with water without stopping.

Mike Hurst is Education Officer, Museum Steward and Guard at Didcot Railway Centre, runs the Goring Gap Local History Society’s Transport History Group and is a volunteer at the late Sir William McAlpine’s private railway at Fawley Hill near Henley. Since moving to Goring in 2004, Mike has been busy researching the local area and its inhabitants, with particular focus on the railway.

The London Underground 'S' (suburban) stock was designed to replace the ageing A60/A62 stock on the Metropolitan line, the C69/C77 stock on the Circle, and Hammersmith & City lines, and the D78 stock on the District line. It was introduced between 2010 and 2017.

Manufactured by Bombardier Transportation's Derby Litchurch Lane Works, it is the first on London Underground to have full air conditioning, and is fitted with a regenerative braking system. The £1.5 billion order for 191 trains (1,395 cars) is said to be the largest-ever single order in Britain for rolling stock.

Jim Ballantyne is our resident expert on industrial railways, Eastern Europe, boilers, and steam-hauled railways worldwide. He is also a frequent finalist in the annual SWRS Photographic Competition.

This time, Jim will be describing a visit to three preservation schemes in France, plus a bit more...

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Colonel Stephens engineered, built and managed a unique empire of branch line railways up and down the country. Built and run on a shoestring, mostly in accordance with the Light Railways Act of 1896, each had its particular character as well as a distinctive family likeness that included remote locations, second-hand rolling stock and, towards the end of their often brief lives, a down-at-heel charm.

Long-time member of The Colonel Stephens Society, David Powell will be telling us about Colonel Holman F Stephens (1868-1931) and his unique railways.

An 'Anything Goes' evening: big screen video, ciné, projected prints, or slides, presented by SWRS members and featuring transport subjects from Great Britain or further afield. (It's open to all, not just SWRS members!)

If you have films or photos to share with fellow enthusiasts, please bring them along on Friday. (And if you contact info@swrs.co.uk in time, we can advertise your contribution in advance.)