What is one heritage railway or railway attraction you want to visit and have not yet?

[Falcon1200]

It isn't inaccessible.

Not totally, but also not exactly easy to get to! Especially as their website, unlike those for many if not most other heritage railways, does not appear to have a 'How to Find Us' page.

 

[steamybrian]

On my list still to visit is..
Shildon Museum
Telford Steam Railway
Keith & Dufftown Railway
Middleton Railway near Leeds
Avon Valley Railway at Bitton

 

[railfan99]

Romney H & D, Ravenglass & Eskdale and East Somerset Railway are on my list.

There's no doubt England has the best preserved railway scene worldwide. Honourable mentions though to France and Germany.

 

[norbitonflyer]

On my list;

Tallyllyn - I'm a frequent visitor to North Wales and have been on most of the narrow gauge lines (even Snowdon, over 50 years ago when we were fog-bound at the summit and they still offered one-way tickets), but have never reached as far south as Tywyn.
GCR - last vuisited over 40 years ago when it only went to Quorn - would like to revisit when the link has been completed
East Kent - their 4COR is a gap I want to fill
My local - the Kempton Park Railway

There is a remarkable concentration of preserved railways in the East Midlands. When staying in Cromford last year, we walked to Matlock (Peak Rail), Crich Tramway museum, and the Ecclesbourne raiwlay - all less than three miles away. Within twenty miles there are also the Heritage Shunter Trust (at the other end of Peak Rail), the Midland Railway Trust, (Butterley). Barrow Hill Roundhouse, the Churnet Valley, the Foxfield, and both parts of the GCR at Loughborough

 

[50002Superb]

On my list;

Tallyllyn - I'm a frequent visitor to North Wales and have been on most of the narrow gauge lines (even Snowdon, over 50 years ago when we were fog-bound at the summit and they still offered one-way tickets), but have never reached as far south as Tywyn.
GCR - last vuisited over 40 years ago when it only went to Quorn - would like to revisit when the link has been completed
East Kent - their 4COR is a gap I want to fill
My local - the Kempton Park Railway

There is a remarkable concentration of preserved railways in the East Midlands. When staying in Cromford last year, we walked to Matlock (Peak Rail), Crich Tramway museum, and the Ecclesbourne raiwlay - all less than three miles away. Within twenty miles there are also the Heritage Shunter Trust (at the other end of Peak Rail), the Midland Railway Trust, (Butterley). Barrow Hill Roundhouse, the Churnet Valley, the Foxfield, and both parts of the GCR at Loughborough

Battlefield too

 

[duffield]

East Lancashire Railway, though i am hoping to go there this year.

Bury Bolton street is a fantastic heritage station (at platform level - the bridge entrance is quite modest!). On a gala day it has a real busy junction station atmosphere, with different services sometimes leaving simultaneously in opposite directions for Heywood to the East and Rawtenstall to the North. The station bar ("The Trackside") is great too - a good choice of ales and ciders, with views of the action, and there's another good pub in Rawtenstall station.

 

[yorksrob]

The whole East Lanks is great.

For me, I think I need to do the K&ESR one day, particularly as it has things like the 4COR there sometimes.

 

[Bodiam]

Úó

The whole East Lanks is great.

For me, I think I need to do the K&ESR one day, particularly as it has things like the 4COR there sometimes.

The Cor is at the East Kent, although the K&ESR does have a Maunsell steam carriage in the usual corridor set.

 

[yorksrob]

Úó

The Cor is at the East Kent, although the K&ESR does have a Maunsell steam carriage in the usual corridor set.

It must have been there some time in the past I think.

The EKR is one I'd likr to go to again, simply because it has the sort of rolling stock I like.

 

[SwindonManor]

I've only done ELR once for their flying scotsman event in 2021. Union of South Africa was running, but before her last train had faults and a diesel needed to take over. Union hasn't run since. Technically making me one of the last people to ride behind the A4 before she was turned into a static.

 

[duffield]

The two main railways I'd like to visit are the Llangollen and the CVR.

For the CVR I was waiting for Leek to open properly (currently the platform has been used but there's no access to/from the town as I understand it).

The Llangollen, I nearly made it there, had it all planned for train and bus to go to the DMU gala - but it was "named storm" day and I wisely decided to give it a miss - I checked and I wouldn't have made it due to various disruption. I'll probably target the DMU gala again this year.

 

[The exile]

The Snowdon Mountain Railway is one I keep thinking about doing, then look at the price and remember they only give you 30 minutes at the summit and decided against it.

It’s worth going for broke and splashing out on the steam run. Mind you, I think I was lucky as I was talking to a couple on the way up who had been been making a annual pilgrimage for about 30 years and were about to experience their first view from the summit of anything other than the inside of a cloud.

 

[The_Van]

Keith & Dufftown. I tried once when staying in Inverness but my Scotrail service was delayed and for some reason it's a tight connection anyway. Once I'd walked to Keith Town I was just in time to see the DMU leaving from the overbridge. Better luck next time

Other than that definitely the K&WVR

 

[Russel]

It’s worth going for broke and splashing out on the steam run. Mind you, I think I was lucky as I was talking to a couple on the way up who had been been making a annual pilgrimage for about 30 years and were about to experience their first view from the summit of anything other than the inside of a cloud.

It's the 30 minute limit at the top that puts me off, it seems very rushed for what you pay, I mean, we've all seen the pictures of the queues to get to the summit on a nice day!

Keith & Dufftown. I tried once when staying in Inverness but my Scotrail service was delayed and for some reason it's a tight connection anyway. Once I'd walked to Keith Town I was just in time to see the DMU leaving from the overbridge. Better luck next time

Other than that definitely the K&WVR

Keith & Dufftown is on my list too, combined with a walk along part of the Speyside way!

 

[Pigeon]

It's the 30 minute limit at the top that puts me off, it seems very rushed for what you pay, I mean, we've all seen the pictures of the queues to get to the summit on a nice day!

Forget the summit, it's just a pile of rocks. It's like Blackpool, including everything you touch being slightly sticky. Better to just wander round it at about the level of the railway terminus, look at the views, take some photos, and find that half an hour doing that is quite enough to get cold even if it's a nice day.

 

[A S Leib]

Is the Snaefell Mountain Railway a better experience than Snowdon as well as being cheaper (well, if you're already going to the Isle of Man or if getting to Llanberis would be expensive)?

 

[steamybrian]

Although I Mentioned in item 62 above a list of rheritage railways that I have yet to visit but I missed the one at top of my list------

Great Central Railway (northern Section)

I have travelled several times from Loughborough Central to Leicester North but never done the northern section.from Ruddington.

 

[Techniquest]

Is the Snaefell Mountain Railway a better experience than Snowdon as well as being cheaper (well, if you're already going to the Isle of Man or if getting to Llanberis would be expensive)?

Not done the Snowdon line yet, however I did Snaefell and I had a cloudy day at the top. Beautiful at the bottom of the line! It was a good line to experience though, based on how it was when I went in (from memory) 2012.

 

[chrisp37]

Forget the summit, it's just a pile of rocks. It's like Blackpool, including everything you touch being slightly sticky. Better to just wander round it at about the level of the railway terminus, look at the views, take some photos, and find that half an hour doing that is quite enough to get cold even if it's a nice day.

We went on a glorious sunny day and the queue for the summit wasn't too bad. We made it up there for the obligatory photo but I agree you don't really need to. Lots of good photo opportunities at the level of the station. We wouldn't have minded sitting down in the cafe and enjoying the views for a bit longer, but overall we didn't feel too short-changed as a result of the 30 minute limit. It really is a great trip (particularly on a clear day).

 

[Dave61]

I would love to ride the Ravenglass and Eskdale. I've been past on a railtour, but never had a chance to actually visit.
However it's a long trip to a part of the country I rarely get to, and it'd need to be a gala or similar to make it worth the trek.
Bure Valley Railway is also on my to-do list, I just never managed to fit it in when I've been in Norfolk.

There are a couple of lines that aren't too far as the crow flies, but hard to get to by public transport (Amerton, East Somerset etc). I was hoping to take advantage of the bus service to Frome for the recent East Somerset gala, but events got in the way!

We went to the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway in 2024. The wife has given me a Birthday present of a afternoon Tea train trip not realising how far away it is - we live near Nottingham....
Thankfully my sister lives in Lancaster so we stayed over there and then drove over on the day. It is one hell of a drive as the roads were up and down, left and right in a never ending sequence, forever going up and down the gears - shocked the wife when we got there with a "thank G** for that!" We have an automatic car now...
Nice trip on a Narrowgage and enjoyed it - once we got there!

 

[Ralph Ayres]

I hadn't come across the Embsay & Bolton Abbey until fairly recently, but it looks worth a visit. I've been put off visiting partly by the limited public transport to get there, though after a bit of research it seems not to be as bad as the railway's own website says, and crucially it is easily reachable on Saturdays. The other concern is the lack of a full published timetable, with an emphasis on booking a particular out-and-back trip on the same train rather than just turning up on spec and perhaps spending some time at the far terminus. I contacted the railway last year about this and got a vague reply that I could probably catch a later train back but they don't guarantee it (which I suppose is theoretically the case elsewhere but rarely a real issue). Does anyone have any practical experience of a visit, and is just dropping in actually quite normal/easy?

 

[JonnySeagull]

I hadn't come across the Embsay & Bolton Abbey until fairly recently, but it looks worth a visit. I've been put off visiting partly by the limited public transport to get there, though after a bit of research it seems not to be as bad as the railway's own website says, and crucially it is easily reachable on Saturdays. The other concern is the lack of a full published timetable, with an emphasis on booking a particular out-and-back trip on the same train rather than just turning up on spec and perhaps spending some time at the far terminus. I contacted the railway last year about this and got a vague reply that I could probably catch a later train back but they don't guarantee it (which I suppose is theoretically the case elsewhere but rarely a real issue). Does anyone have any practical experience of a visit, and is just dropping in actually quite normal/easy?

We actually just turned up and bought tickets on the day for this last week (I hadn't realised how close to the KWVR it was). Getting tickets was easy but it was for a specific timed train, I'm not sure what would have happened if we had wanted to stay at the other end of the line and try to catch a different return service. There was nothing to suggest it would be too much of a problem, but we were allocated a table/seat on the train we were booked on so I guess if the next service was busy it could cause a problem.

 

[47434]

Mid-Hants been on my list for a long time. What are the gradients like?

 

[Cowley]

Mid-Hants been on my list for a long time. What are the gradients like?

From Alton from memory it’s 1 in 100 to Butts Junction for the first couple of miles of 1 in 60 to Medstead which is the summit of the line. After that it’s 1 in 60 down towards Ropley for the first bit and then 1 in 80 from Ropley to Alresford.

Pretty hilly basically.

 

[SECR 65]

Mid-Hants been on my list for a long time. What are the gradients like?

Very steep!!!!! I can't find a gradient profile from a quick Google search.

 

[Sun Chariot]

From Alton from memory it’s 1 in 100 to Butts Junction for the first couple of miles of 1 in 60 to Medstead which is the summit of the line. After that it’s 1 in 60 down towards Ropley for the first bit and then 1 in 80 from Ropley to Alresford.

Pretty hilly basically.

That's what my grey cells tell me. For five years, I lived less than 20 minutes' drive away from Alton; I explored all of the local lanes and farm accesses along its route.

 

[Cowley]

That's what my grey cells tell me. For five years, I lived less than 20 minutes' drive away from Alton; I explored all of the local lanes and farm accesses along its route.

I volunteered on the line in the 1990s including a glorious whole summer living on site at Ropley in 1991. It’s got some very special memories for me.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I volunteered on the line in the 1990s including a glorious whole summer living on site at Ropley in 1991. It’s got some very special memories for me.

Fantastic! I was local 2012-2017 and I imagine some of your good work was still going strong!

 

[Forty29]

Very steep!!!!! I can't find a gradient profile from a quick Google search.

Nicknamed The Alps
Had 37065 on a diesel gala a good few years ago now probably one of my favourite thrash runs between Ropley and Medstead. Or anywhere!

 

[Tetragon213]

Nicknamed The Alps
Had 37065 on a diesel gala a good few years ago now probably one of my favourite thrash runs between Ropley and Medstead. Or anywhere!

Iirc, the Watercress Line's YouTube channel has a video which makes mention of The Alps and the fact that (as Sod's Law would dictate), the bank just so happens to coincide with a mobile coverage dead spot. I'm pretty sure they ended up installing a lineside telephone there because of this!

The Watercress Line was apparently the first heritage line I ever visited; there's an image of me in the family photo album in my dad's arms next to a locomotive (photo is zoomed in like hell and blurry, so I couldn't tell you which if I tried), and it's dated from when I was about 3. Unfortunately, it's also why I don't remember that trip at all! The first heritage line I visited at an age where I could actually appreciate it was the Swanage.

One line I've wanted to do for a long time is the NYMR. Unfortunately, it's about 5hrs 40mins by public transport from where I live, so I'd have to plan the whole weekend around it.