Fawley Hill Railway is a privately owned heritage railway on the Fawley Hill estate of the late Sir William McAlpine at Fawley in Buckinghamshire, England.
An acknowledged railway enthusiast as well as a director of the construction company Sir Robert McAlpine, McAlpine returned to Hayes depot during the Beeching Axe to find that the company's Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No.31 was for sale for £100. He purchased the locomotive, and moved it to Fawley Hill.[1] This marked the start in 1965 of the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Fawley Hill Railway, a private railway which now runs to over a mile long, combining the steepest gradient at 1:13 on a British railway, and includes:[2][3]
- The Great Eastern Railway Somersham railway station
- Midland Railway signal box from Shobnall Maltings, near Burton upon Trent
- The footbridge from Brading on the Isle of Wight, Bridge No 25, where it spanned the Ryde Pier to Shanklin line
- A carved pediment from Broad Street railway station
- The platform shelter from Bourne End railway station
- Fawley Signal Box (formerly a Shunters' Cabin from Upwell Street Wharf, Sheffield)
- Inverernie Station Shelter (formally at Thrapston on the Kettering-Cambridge line)
In addition, the perimeter of the railway line is adorned with several prominent architectural features which McAlpine acquired – although these were received mostly as donations; these include the original Wembley Stadium Twin Towers flagpoles, some early cast-iron bridge parapets, and several arched structures from prominent London locations.
Apart from the resident steam engine, No.31 (away for boiler overhaul in 2024), an ex-British Rail Class 03 diesel-mechanical shunter (D2120) is operational on the line together with two Hibberd 0-4-0 Planet diesel-mechanical industrial locomotives.
Entrance to Fawley Hill Railway is by invitation only on select days, usually during the summer period. The railway, together with McAlpine's extensive private railway museum, is operated and maintained on behalf of Fawley Hill by volunteers from Fawley Museum Society.
References
edit- ^ "Fawley". Hampton Court MRS. Archived from the original on 19 June 2013.
- ^ "Fawley Museum Railway". Archived from the original on 25 September 2011.
- ^ "Bramhope Tunnel". The Architecture the Railways Built. Season 3. Episode 4. 4 October 2021. Yesterday.