The RPSI has been running monthly meetings in Belfast, during the winter months, almost continually since February 1974.
Guest speakers from all corners of Ireland and beyond have enthralled our audiences with tales of all things railway - broad and narrow gauge - mostly steam, with many pictures from behind the scenes. Hundreds of slide shows and miles of movie film and video have revealed every corner of the island's railway network to consistently large audiences, reputedly the largest in these islands.
All Welcome!
| Date | Meeting Details |
|---|---|
| 01-Oct-2024 | The RPSI - The First 60 Years Charles Friel presents a review in pictures of some milestones and significant events in the remarkable 60 years since the Society was founded. Based on our forthcoming exhibition, the talk will include many pictures which did not make the final cut. Be reminded of our early struggles, our many successes and some of the setbacks. You might even see your younger self! |
| 05-Nov-2024 | Donaghadee and the B&CDR Gordon Hunt recounts the BCDR’s branch from Comber to Donaghadee which had a busy year-round passenger traffic, seasonal excursions and a connection to the harbour which once had a mail boat link with Portpatrick. Gordon will also share the highs and lows of building his award-winning 4mm model of “The Dee” and then exhibiting it both at home and in Scotland. |
| 03-Dec-2024 | The Wee Donegal In Pictures Charles Friel uses many previously unseen photographs to mark the 65th anniversary of the closure of the County Donegal Railway. Journey over all 124 miles - from Londonderry/Derry to Strabane and Letterkenny, and from Strabane through Stranorlar to Glenties and Killybegs and from Ballyshannon to Donegal Town. The second half will cover the last days of public trains and the lifting trains before reviewing the CDRJC in preservation - including the extensive work on Drumboe in Whitehead. |
| 07-Jan-2025 | Modern Traction on the Great Northern Michael McMahon presented the January meeting of the Modern Railway Society of Ireland for all of 36 years. After the winding up of the MRSI, Michael continues the tradition with this review of how the GNR(I) embraced modern technology and applied it successfully in a succession of diesel railcars and one diesel hydraulic locomotive. The railcars brought new standards of comfort and service and the promise of brighter days ahead. Meanwhile, the GNRB's management tried to persuade Stormont that railways really did have a future (spoiler alert - no fairytale ending). |
| 04-Feb-2025 | The Derry Road Remembered Jim Donaghy marks the 60th anniversary of the closure of the Great Northern's line from Portadown to Derry/Londonderry (Foyle Road). Jim, who grew up beside the majestic Blackwater Viaduct, will bring us through the line's varied landscapes – across the bogs of Armagh to Dungannon, through the mountains around Pomeroy to Omagh, and along the banks of the tumbling River Mourne through Strabane to the wide expanses of the Foyle. This fully-illustrated trip over the line is rich with stories of the trains and the people who worked on this much-missed line. |
| 04-Mar-2025 | Belfast Great Victoria Street Robert White will begin his tribute to this recently-lost station with a review of the Ulster Railway’s options for its Belfast terminus. From its opening in 1839, the talk traces the heady days of expansion and development, the busy days of two world wars and the optimism of the new Enterprise Express. Then came the dark days of rundown and closure before its 1995 reincarnation and recent final demise. This fully-illustrated talk will include much new material and many previously unseen pictures and maps in this fitting end to our season. |
The Meeting
All talks commence at 7:30pm and are fully illustrated.
Apart from any announcements, each meeting includes a short 'Newsreel'. This gives a bite-sized look at recent events or intriguing engineering in which the RPSI has been involved. It is the natural appetiser to getting involved yourself and becoming one of the volunteers who do so much behind the scenes. There may also be a brief update on the wider Society from our General Manager.
The Society's shop, with its extensive range of railway books and pictures, will be open before each meeting and again at the interval when refreshments will also be available in return for a small extra donation. The meetings will finish at 10pm.
The Venue
Parke Hall, Orangefield Presbyterian Church, Castlereagh Road, Belfast, BT5 6BH
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.
The meetings are fully accessible for wheelchair users.