Fawley  Museum Railway

Ticket to Somersham and Bourne Again Junction and Inverernie from Pinewell Bottom  - 1st Class Return

Allsorts Club Members enjoyed their day spent at The Fawley Hill Railway, which was first class in every way.  The warm summer weather allowed all who joined the visit to enjoy one or two! rides on the Fawley Mountaineer, the railway through lovely valley scenery in the park land by kind permission of The Hon Sir William McAlpine Bt. FRSE.

The Fawley Hill Railway evolved from the garden railway established in 1964.  It is now maintained and run by volunteers of the Fawley Museum Society.  The Allsorts Car Club were invited together with other Societies from all over the UK to one of the open days in July.

Over fifty members arrived in their classic and vintage cars and were able to visit the Museum of railway memorabilia.

The mile-long railway runs through Parkland full of deer, emus and cranes.  The railway has many preserved Station Facades and Arches, Signal Boxes and Railway huts, saved from demolition.  The footbridge has been newly erected and was originally from Brading on the Isle of Wight, Bridge No 25, where it spanned the Ryde Pier to Shanklin line.  It would have had wooden sides and a covered roof. At the present time there are 3 locomotives and 20 pieces of rolling stock.  The railway runs up a 1 in 13 gradient into the Station, which is at the very limit for locomotives in wet weather. 

Particularly attractive are the Brick Lunette erected in the Station Yard behind the Station.  They are a series of eight amoretti, from the tympani at Liverpool Street Station, London.

The Fawley Mountaineer, No 31, was delivered new to Robert McAlpine and Sons on 14 April 1913.  It is the only surviving locomotive to have been owned by McAlpine for the whole of its working life.  It worked on a number of building contracts, including Wembley Stadium (1923-1924) and RAF Boscombe Down (1944).  When No 31 was transported to Fawley it was painted blue and red.  It is now in GWR Brunswick Green livery.  Weight in working order 26 tons.

All the Allsorts club members attending were delighted to be invited and enjoyed a picnic overlooking the railway and were able to watch No 31 steaming up the gradient to the Station via Bourne Again Junction to Invernie.

We congratulate all those volunteers involved in preserving and running the Fawley Railway and thank the Society for providing the information we have used from their Guide which we have used in order to compile this web page.