Whipsnade Zoo Railway 

Site Facilities: Refreshments, shop, gifts, playground, children's farm

Whipsnade Park Zoo opened to the public in May 1931. Now called ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, the ZSL stands for the Zoological Society of London they also own ZSL London Zoo. Set in 600 acres of parkland the zoo has plenty of room for the resident 2500 animals, with large enclosures giving a more natural habitat. Whipsnade has a worldwide reputation for conservation with many of the species endangered in the wild.

Passenger services were started on the railway at Whipsnade Zoo on 26 August 1970. The line was extended further to form a two mile loop and officially opened on 2 August 1973 by Princess Margaret. Most of the equipment came from the Bowater's railway at Sittingbourne, which had the distinction of being the last steam operated narrow gauge industrial railway in the country. There are a number of sharp gradients, bridges and a tunnel on the line which takes visitors around the Asian region of the park. Called the Jumbo Express the train goes past areas with bears, deer, rhinos, elephants donkeys, zebras and tigers. 

Two steam Locomotives built by Kerr Stuart & Co. are at the railway they are 'Excelsior' 0-4-0ST built in 1908 and 'Superior' 0-6-0T built in 1920. Each engine can pull five carriages giving a capacity of 125 passengers, the complete journey takes fifteen minutes.

Eastleigh Lakeside Steam Railway

A successful first year encouraged the railway to negotiate with the Council to have a permanent line and eventually a three year lease was granted. When laying the track the decision was made to have an extra rail to accommodate 7¼ inch and 10¼ inch locomotives.

In 1998 the Council agreed to a long term lease for the ELSR. A year later in February 1999 a new station called Eastleigh Parkway opened, it has a shop, café, workshop, engine and carriage shed. A halt was constructed at Monks Brook to allow passengers leave the train on other side of the country park where there are picnic tables and a children's playground. By August 2000 the railway had been converted to the double track it has now, which gives a circular journey of 1¼ miles. An interesting feature added in summer 2003 was a 230ft tunnel.

There is a large collection of locomotives at the railway including 19 steam also diesel and battery powered engines. Open every weekend, school holidays and every day in the summer the ELSR offers an enjoyable train ride through a pleasant country park.  

Exbury Steam Railway

Address: Exbury Gardens, Exbury, Southampton SO45 1AZ  Location Type: Gardens / Miniature Railway Line
Telephone: 023 8089 1203  Information Line: 023 8089 9422  Line Length: 1¼ miles circular  Gauge: 12¼ inches 
Route: Around Exbury Garden  Stations: Exbury Central - Exbury North  Journey Time: 20 minutes
Open Days: Every day March 19 - November 6  
Tickets: Admission to Gardens Adult £9.00, Child £2.00, Family £21.00 (2 adults and 2 children). Extra charge for railway £3.50, rover £4.50  
Parking: Free at Exbury Gardens SO45 1AZ
Website: www.exbury.co.uk     YouTubevideo     location map

Exbury Gardens is a 200 acre site in Hampshire owned by the Rothschild family. These renown gardens have an outstanding collection of azaleas, rhododendrons, shrubs and trees. Indeed readers of Gardeners World magazine have voted Exbury as one of their recommended gardens to visit.

Leopold de Rothschild has always been a railway enthusiast and the decision was made to have a steam railway at Exbury. A completely new garden was created for the railway on an adjacent landfill site. Plans were made in 1999 to have a landscaped garden with provision for a miniature railway running a circular route. Work commenced in 2000, a year later the new gardens and railway opened to the public.

Two steam locomotives were built specially for the railway by the Exmoor Steam Railway. The popularity of the line is so great that rover tickets are only available at off peak times. The demand meant that trains sometimes had to be double headed to cope with the number of coaches. To solve this problem, another, more powerful locomotive was ordered from Exmoor which was delivered in 2008.

Four steam locomotives are at Exbury, they are 'Rosemary' 0-6-2T, 'Eddy' 0-4-0, 'Naomi' 0-6-2T, and 'Mariloo' 2-6-0. Occasionally Leopold de Rothschild can be found driving one of the locomotives, such is his passion for the railway. A trip on this charming railway is an excellent way to view these superb gardens.

Further photographs of the Exbury Steam Railway can be found in the Photo Gallery 

Hayling Seaside Railway

Address: Beachlands Station, Beachlands, Hayling Island PO11 0AG

A group of people got together in the 1980s to reinstate a railway on the former Hayling Island line. Havant Council decided they would put a cycleway and footpath on the former trackbed, so the plans got no further.

Bob Haddock wanted to set up a narrow gauge railway in the aea but was refused permission many times before he found a suitable site at the Mill Rythe Holiday Camp. The East Hayling Railway ran for a number of years at the holiday camp.

In the meantime Havant Council issued a long term plan for the Hayling seaside resort which mentioned a miniature railway. Although the railway at the holiday camp was a reasonable success a line close to the beach would obviously attract extra passengers. So Bob Haddock submitted a planning application for a narrow gauge railway at the beach. This was promptly refused but after numerous further applications made over a twelve year period an appeal to the Department of the Evironment came out in favour of the project.

The railway at the holiday camp closed and construction on the new line began in October 2001 with the main station being built adjacent to the Funland Amusement Park. Track laying commenced in May 2002 and the "Hayling Seaside Railway" officially opened in May 2002. There is over one mile of track starting at Beechlands station, the line has an intermediate request stop at Mengham Road Halt and continues to Eastoke Corner.

Four locomotives are available they are 'Jack' which is a steam outline diesel, purpose built by Alan Keef Engineering in 1988 for the previous railway. The other three engines are all industrial diesels: 'Alan B' a Simplex built in 1937;  'Alistair' built in 1949 and 'Edwin' built by Ruston in 1967.

So the traditional small seaside railway is alive and flourishing on Hayling Island. Long term ambitions for the Hayling Seaside Railway include extending the length of track and having their own steam locomotive.

A range of showmans engines, traction engines. agricultural engines, steam rollers and stationery engines can often be seen working.

There are three railway lines at Hollycombe. The standard gauge is ½ mile long and has one locomotive Cockerill 0-4-0VBT steam tram. Two steam locomotives which originally worked in the North Wales slate quarries are run on the narrow gauge track. They are Hunslet 0-4-0ST 'Jerry M' and Barclay 0-4-0WT 'Caledonia' another locomotive from Finland 'Tourska' 0-6-0 has been added for 2011. Four steam engines are available for use on the 7¼ inch miniature gauge railway.

Royal Victoria Railway

Address: Royal Victoria Country Park, Netley, Southampton SO31 5GA  Location Type: Miniature Railway Line

Construction of the Royal Victoria Railway which is located in a 200 acre country park began in 1995. Although there had been a small railway in the park before nothing of it remained so the railway was conceived as a completely new project. The first train ran on 24 August 1996 hauled by a diesel locomotive called 'Maurice the Major', which is still in use today.

Passengers are taken on a one mile circular route which starts at Piccadilly station and goes around part of the country park with views of wooded areas, gardens and Southampton Water. A second station called Chapel Road is only open on special event days. 

Operational steam locomotives include: 'Trevithick' 0-6-2; 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel' 2-6-0; 'Basil the Brigadier' 2-6-0 + 0-6-2 there are also three diesel locomotives. The passenger carriages have been built at the railway.

Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway

Address: The Warren, Bredgar, Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 8AT
Location Type: Narrow Gauge Railway Line
Telephone: 01622 884254   Line Length: ½ mile  Gauge: 2ft
Stations: Warren Wood - Stony Shaw 
Service: April 24 / first Sunday of the month May - October
Tickets: Adult £7.50, Child £3.00  Parking: At railway ME9 8AT
Website: www.bwlr.co.uk     YouTubevideo     location Map

The railway has all the features of a full size railway including a station at either end of the line. Two signal boxes near the stations control the signalling and points. There is a turntable next to the engine shed and to complete the scene there are run around loops, sidings and a goods shed. All passenger coaches have been built in the railway workshops. 

A diverse range of interesting industrial narrow gauge steam locomotives are resident at the BWLR they include No.1 'Bronhilde' 0-4-0WT built 1927, No.2 'Katie' 0-6-0WT built 1931, No.4 'Armistice' 0-4-0ST built 1919, No.6 'Eigiau' 0-4-0WT built 1913, No.7 'Victory' 0-4-2ST built 1897, No.8 O & K  0-4-0WT built 1936, No.9 'Limpopo' 0-6-0WT built 1930, No10 John Fowler 'Zambezi' 0-4-2 built 1912 and 'Lady Joan' 0-4-0 built 1922.

Many other attractions can be found at the railway including agricultural traction engine, showman's engine, steam rollers, Bean cars from the 1920s, Dutch street organ and beam engine. It is all set in delightful wooded area, a day at the BWLR has something for everyone to enjoy.

The museum is dedicated to Colonel Holman Fred Stephens who ran 16 light railways throughout England and Wales. Memorabilia from all his railways is on show, this includes signs, posters, tickets, photographs as well a locomotive from the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway called 'Gazelle'.

East Kent Railway

Address: Station Road, Shepherdswell, Dover, Kent CT15 7PD  Location Type: Railway Line
Telephone: 01304 832042  Line Length: 2 miles  Gauge: 4ft 8½ inches
Route: Shepherdswell to Eythorne  Stations: Shepherdswell - Eythorne  Journey Time: 15 minutes
Service: Sundays April 3 - September 18 / March 20 / April 22 - 24, 30 / May 2, 28 - 30 / July 30 / August 6, 13, 20, 27 - 29 / September 17 / October 29, 30 / December 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 23, 24
Tickets: Adult £7.00, Child £4.00, Family £17.00 (2 adults and 2 children) unlimited travel on day of issue  Parking: Free at Shepherdswell Station CT15 7PD also at Eythorne Station.
Website: www.eastkentrailway.co.uk     YouTubevideo     location map

A railway to link up the coal fields that were opening in East Kent was proposed in 1909. Work started in 1911 on the East Kent Light Railway with Colonel H.F. Stephens as chief engineer. The first section from Sheperdswell to Tilmanstone Colliery opened on 27 November 1912. Passenger services to Wingham began on 16 October 1916. Later an extension to Richborough Port was completed in December 1916. Track length increased further to Canterbury Road in 1925.

top of the page