For 37 years the
RPSI has been running monthly meetings during the winter. Guest speakers
from all corners of Ireland and beyond have enthralled consistently large
audiences with tales of all things railway. Hundreds of slide shows
and films have revealed every corner of the island's rail network to the
regular attenders, and parts of several other countries as well!
Each night opens
with a five-minute 'newsreel'. This gives a bite-sized look at some
recent event or intriguing piece of engineering in which the RPSI has been
involved.
The Venue
After many years at St Jude's Church Hall,
we are now holding the meetings on the Castlereagh Road in Parke Hall.
Click
here for a map from Google maps. (Don't worry, the building has been
finished since Google's pictures were taken!) For those using Sat-Nav, the postcode is BT5 6BH.
The big advantage of this move is that
access to the hall no longer requires climbing a steep set of stairs, making
the meetings accessible for large number of enthusiasts, including wheelchair
users, who have previously been unable to come.
The new hall seen looking towards the
city centre
The disadvantage is that, at the request
of our hosts, the raffles which were previously a feature of the meetings
will be discontinued.
The hall can be reached using Metro bus
services 5A
and 31,
and Ulsterbus service
512 - the Montgomery Road stop coming into Belfast, and Orby Street
on the way out.
As ever there will
be a sales table which will give you a chance to browse through the stock
of the RPSI shop,
including the large stock of second-hand magazines - which is far too large
to list on the website!
Tea and coffee will
be available at the interval from the British
Red Cross.
Admission is FREE
and open to non-members although donations towards the costs of running
the meetings are always gratefully received.
Each meeting is on the second Wednesday
of the month, from October to March, and starts at 7:30pm, with a 20-25
minute interval at about 9:00pm, and finishes at about 10:15pm.
Full
2011 - 2012 winter meetings listings are here!
Click
here for printer-friendly PDF format
Wednesday 12th October 2010
Irish Steam Cinema
Fred Cooper presents another selection from
his matchless Irish railway film archive. The feature film is our 1983
Port Lairge railtour with 171 and 184 to Waterford and the many
mystifying shunts at the Junction. Plus a full supporting programme
of short films, old and new, on lines broad and narrow, from all across
Ireland - many of them never screened before. Surprises guaranteed.
Wednesday 9 November 2011
Charles Friel presents
1. Dundalk Barrack Street Revisited
An illustrated review of the area that included an early Loco Works and
passenger station, a creosoting plant and the line to Greenore plus its
role until recently as an important goods depot.
2. Larne’s Narrow Gauge lines
A journey from Larne to Ballymena on this long-lost narrow gauge line
and its branch to Ballyclare and Doagh plus the Aluminium Company’s
railway.
Both with many previously unseen pictures.
Wednesday 7 December 2011
1. Clogher Valley Remembered
Roger Weatherup marks the 70th anniversary of its closure by bringing
us on a tour of this remarkable, mostly roadside, narrow gauge line
that once ran between Maguiresbridge and Tynan.
2. Inst to RPSI
Denis Grimshaw recalls the origins and activities of the Royal Belfast
Academical Institution’s Railway Society which was highly instrumental
in the formation of the RPSI in 1964 and still echoes down its history.
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Wednesday 11 January 2012
1. Historical Aspects of Antrim’s railways
John Stewart
reminds us of the development and significance of the lines that once
crossed the county and what reminders can still be seen today.
2. The Swilly Remembered
Richard Lyons
helps us to relive this long-lost narrow gauge line that bravely served
the north and west of a thinly-populated and far from prosperous County
Donegal.
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Last Years of steam on the Great Northern
Joe Cassells
has continued to digitise his 1960s steam photographs. Tonight he
shares his pictures of the former GNR(I) area around Belfast and the
lines to Dundalk, Warrenpoint and Londonderry (Foyle Road) as well as
many places en route. The pictures include many re-discoveries, some
pleasant surprises and a sprinkling of rarely-photographed subjects of
a passing way of life.
Wednesday 14 March 2012
Rails Around Craigavon
Charles Friel
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Ask on the night
how you can
be
a part of it!
Keeping
Steam alive in Ireland since 1964
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