A GROUP of railway enthusiasts will hear about the engineering feats of a Victorian entrepreneur who helped launch the economical light railway.
Chris Jackson, a committee member of the Colonel Stephens Society, will talk about the work of this railway engineer, who lived from 1868 to 1931.
Colonel Stephens was a great believer in low-cost railways and was involved in upwards of 50 different projects.
These included the Weston (Super Mare), Clevedon and Portishead Railways and the Ffestiniog line, where he was chairman and managing director from 1925.
From 1900 he became the leading independent engineering dynamic behind the light railway movement.
There is a direct link between this movement and today’s heritage railways, which use the legislation that enabled his economical light railway.
Colonel Stephens was engaged in engineering and building, and later managing 16 light railways in England and Wales.
Many of his railways such as the Selsey Tram are no more, but others are now heritage railways such as the Kent and East Sussex which runs from Tenterden in Kent to Bodiam in Sussex.
The Railway and Transport Club has more than 40 members and enables men and women of all ages to share their common interest.
Members meet to enjoy a wide range of presentations on transport topics, including heritage and steam railways, with the opportunity for refreshments and time for a chat.
The club meets in the Bradbury Centre of the Methodist Church, on the third Tuesday of each month (except July, August and December) at 7:30pm.
For information about the next event, when Chris Jackson will speak on Tuesday, June 16, visit: wokinghammethodist.org.uk
