Chasewater Railway Museum – Coming Soon – 60th Anniversary Gala

The start of it all…

Inaugural Meeting

About 20 people met at the Station Hotel, Stafford, on Saturday 21^st November 1959 for the inaugural meeting.  The General Secretary opened the meeting and sketched out the reasons leading to the formation of the RPS and future plans.  He explained that this was the first District to be inaugurated and though the general outline had been planned out, the detailed application of this would be the concern of the WMD committee.

Mr. D. A. Ives, who has been acting as Secretary, gave a report on progress to date.  He reported that membership was over 25 and that they had received a good response from individuals contacted.  The first step was to secure a small depot in a convenient locality, where relics could be stored and members work on their restoration.  The ideal site would contain a certain amount of covered accommodation as well as rail space for carriages and wagons.  He believed the support was there in the West Midlands, it was only a question of publicity and personal contact.

The committee to serve for the current year was then elected.

Future plans were discussed and the decision taken to launch a publicity campaign leading up to a public meeting in the New Year.  The site of the public meeting was fixed as being Birmingham, but emphasis was laid on arranging future meetings in different towns to give better contact with the public and members.

Three reporters attended the meeting, leading to reports in the ‘Stafford Newsletter’ and the ‘Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel’.

The public meeting was fixed for Saturday, March 5^th in the Small Theatre at the Birmingham & Midland Institute, Paradise Street, Birmingham at 2.30pm.  Everyone welcome.