The Poole Park Railway is a

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petro ...

that runs through Poole Park in Poole,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The line runs throughout the year, weather permitting. The 32-person capacity railway carriages are wheelchair accessible. They are liveried in green which alongside the yellow branding of the railway pay homage to Southern Railway that operated in the area from 1923 to 1947. The carriages are pulled along a 10 1⁄4 inch gauge track by a diesel engine currently on loan to the railway courtesy of the Newlyn Downs Branch line at Lappa Valley, a miniature railway in Cornwall.

History

In 1949 Southern Miniature Railways Ltd started this gauge railway. They also operated miniature railways in Stokes Bay, Bognor Regis and Southsea. The only one to survive to present times is Poole Park. A freelance 4-4-2 tender loco “Vanguard” was used every day until 1965 and occasionally until 1970. After 1970 two diesel outline locos were used first powered by Ford Sidevalve engines then diesel. Steam did briefly return in the 1990s with an engine called Arthur used mainly on Saturdays, which was sold in 1997. The line was taken over by Chris Bullen on 2 June 2005, becoming the third operator since 1949.

Poole Borough Council Poole Borough Council was the unitary authority responsible for local government in the Borough of Poole, Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 1997 following a review by the Local Government Commission for England (1992), becoming adminis ...

ended their tenancy agreement with Chris Bullen in 2017, ordering that the historic track be removed before tenders for a new operator would begin on 1 March 2017. The council, after backlash from the public and the media, then said that the track may remain in place until after the tendering process. A petition was started to save the historic track from destruction on

38 Degrees 38 Degrees is a British not-for-profit political-activism organisation. It describes itself as " progressive" and claims to "campaign for fairness, defend rights, promote peace, preserve the planet and deepen democracy in the UK". 38 Degrees t ...

website. The Railway was awarded to the Friends of Poole Park (a charity) in July 2017, with a concession to operate the Railway for 30 years. On 25 April 2018 two of the three railway CIC directors resigned as a result of an unworkable business relationship with the third director. The forty or more volunteers who had operated the railway and maintained the track all 'walked' out in sympathy. Subsequently, the Borough of Poole were unconvinced that the railway CIC could operate the railway safely, following a derailment in May 2018 and the walk out of Friends of Poole Park, the concession was withdrawn and the CIC issued with a 'Notice to Quit' in July 2018. BCP Council received a grant from the Parks Foundation and added additional funds of its own; in 2021 a new engine shed was installed and new track was laid by Track Systems of Shropshire. The Railway re-opened September 2022 and is run by BCP Council supervisory staff alongside a team of volunteers.

References

* * {{Ridable miniature railways in England Miniature railways in the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in Dorset Rail transport in Dorset Railway lines closed in 2017

History

See also

References