What we do and how to join us

Meetings

We are a friendly railway society, with members from a wide range of backgrounds and interests, and we meet on the third Thursday of each month (except August). We meet at the British Red Cross Society in Victoria Road. This is just off Glade Road, about five minutes walk from the railway station, and parking is available. Meetings start at 19.45 for 20.00 and usually consist of an illustrated talk on a topic of railway interest with a break for tea or coffee mid way (served by two members at each meeting from a rota of volunteers).

Outings

In addition to these speaker meetings we also organise outings (see our gallery for some examples. These have included visits to a private garden railway and 'behind the scenes' visits to the Willesden Signalling Centres and to Silverlink's Bletchley depot. We venture abroad from time to time, most recently to France and Ireland.

Top-quality newsletter

The Society publishes a quarterly magazine, The Marlow Donkey, named after the steam train which operated the branch line for many years (and which also gave its name to the pub near the railway station). The contents of the magazine are contributed by members, and include articles and photographs of railway interest. Each year at the AGM in February members vote to choose the best article to be published in the Donkey in the previous year, and the winning author holds for a year the Norman Aston-Smith Trophy (see picture at the top of this page) which is named in memory of one of the founder members of the Society. The current holder of the trophy is Tony Keen.

Email news service

Although The Marlow Donkey includes local news of railway interest, there are often topical items - such as information about special trains or society events - where time is of the essence. To fill this gap there is an e-newsletter sent to all members who wish to receive it and who have an email address. An e-newsletter is sent when there is news to share rather than on a regular schedule.

Membership

Full membership costs £12 for a year (£14 from 2009) which includes free entry to all meetings and a copy of each edition of The Marlow Donkey. Alternatively you can pay a lower subscription of £7 a year (£8 from 2009) which does not include free entry to meetings and is suitable for those who live at a distance. You can join at any of our speaker meetings - the Treasurer, Peter Robins, or any of the committee will be pleased to help. Visitors are welcome to our meetings, but we ask that you pay a meeting membership fee of £2.