Windsor Arches Walk

...scheduled for Saturday, 4th October, has been postponed.

The aim is to re-schedule the walk in the Spring.
A new date will be publicised in due course.

Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year!
from the

Slough & Windsor Railway Society

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Slough & Windsor Railway Society

Open Day

Saturday, 1st March 2025

The Society's meeting place 'The Manor', by Slough railway station, will be open to visitors between 10:00 and 16:00.

(Directions to The Manor)

Come along to have a chat, look inside the Victorian building, visit our museum, and see our exhibition model railway layouts: Slough Estates Sidings, and Taplow.

The club's model railway will be available for children (or adults!) to have a go at driving a train.

SWRS members will be on hand to answer your questions about the Society, our model railway club, and "Slough Estates No.3", our steam locomotive that used to work on the Slough Trading Estate railway.

Railway books and DVDs, and pre-owned model railway items, will be on sale.

Entry is free although donations would be very welcome!

Slough Model Railway Exhibition 2025

Burnham Park Hall, Windsor Lane, Burnham, Bucks, SL1 7HR

Sat 25th October – 10:00-17:00
Sun 26th October – 10:00-16:00

Layouts of various gauges and sizes (O, OO, N, 009), traders, modelling demonstrations, preservation groups, and a play railway where children (and adults!) can have a go at driving a model train themselves.


Free vintage bus from
Burnham Railway Station.

Further details HERE.

About the SWRS

The Slough & Windsor Railway Society is essentially a social group for anyone interested in rail transport of any kind, especially railways in the local area. A model railway section also meets on Wednesday evenings.

New members are always welcome (and you don't have to live in Slough or Windsor!).

The Society meets for illustrated talks on Friday nights in a former Great Western Railway building adjacent to Slough railway station, known to us as The Manor.
Non-members are most welcome.

"Friday Nights at The Manor"

17 Jul 2026

UK Rail Freight Operations

…a journey through time

Karl Watts

7:15pm, at 'The Manor', Slough Station (directions)

Snowy view of an early British Railways design electric locomotive hauling a freight train formed of short wheelbase vans, grain wagons, and empty coal hoppers, 'under the wires' on the Woodhead line.

This talk captures the development of UK rail freight operation from the early 19th century to the present day.

From the very first freight railways to the technological advancements currently being witnessed in freight operations, the talk captures the economic contribution rail freight has always and continues to deliver along with the advancements in locomotives and freight rolling stock.

The talk ends with a sneak preview of the recent ground breaking 90 mph intermodal container train trials on the West Coast Main Line.

Karl Watts is the founder and Managing Director of Railmotive Ltd, and founder and former President of the Rail Operations Group (ROG), whose locomotives will have been seen passing through Slough on a variety of rolling stock moves for other companies.

Photo: "1970s view of a BR Blue -liveried EM1 Bo-Bo electric locomotive (TOPS Class 76) 76 051, hauling a fitted freight train on the 1500V DC overhead Woodhead Line"
– Image supplied by Karl Watts

Please see the Programme page for more about Friday meetings.

NOTE: The start time is now 7:15pm, with the talk beginning promptly at 7:30pm.

Programme Changes: "Friday Nights at The Manor"

This autumn, several Friday night meetings have had to be re-scheduled due to circumstances beyond our control. Full details may be found on the Programme Page.

Unfortunately, two of our forthcoming speakers are unable to join us this November. Hopefully these evenings can be rescheduled in next year's programme.

Friday,   8th November – Clifton Rocks Railway  – Peter Davey
Friday, 29th November – Transport Miscellaneous – Colin Miell

In their place, Rob Holder will present a Transport Mix evening on 8th November; and on 29th November, Frank Banfield will give us another of his popular evenings of archive ciné film, this time featuring: Railways in the 1950s.

UPDATE – 15th October:
Christian Wolmar has had to postpone his talk from November 24th until early next year, so please note the following additional changes to the programme:

  • 24th Nov – Windsor Link Railway Update – George Bathurst
  • 05th Jan 2018 – My Latest Book – Indian Railways – Christian Wolmar

Our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

If you would like more information or to join the Society, please see the Membership page.

"Slough Estates No. 3"

In addition to holding weekly meetings and other events, the Society is the support group for Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST "Slough Estates Ltd No.3", a 1924-built steam locomotive which operated for 50 years on the Slough Trading Estate Railway.

After a prolonged restoration (read more here), No.3 was finally returned to steam in 2000, and spent a number of years hauling passenger services at the Swindon & Cricklade Railway in Wiltshire.

In 2011, No.3 was relocated to the Middleton Railway in Leeds on long-term loan. This line is close to the site of the Railway Foundry where she was built in 1924. No.3 also closely resembles the last steam loco to work over the railway in NCB days in 1958. It is thus appropriate that she should have 'returned home' to Leeds.

No.3's steam boiler certificate expired again in April 2021, so she was taken out of traffic until completion of a ten-yearly inspection, which required complete dismantling of the locomotive. The overhaul was undertaken by volunteers at the Middleton Railway, and she returned to traffic in June 2026. Further details may be found on the No.3 News page.

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