Leighton Buzzard Railway 2025 season off to a great start!
The first running day of the 2025 season started fantastically for the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway with more than 300 passengers taking to the trains last weekend to celebrate Mothers’ Day and hear the opening address by the Town Crier, accompanied by Councillor David Bligh, the 50th Mayor of Leighton-Linslade.
The entirely volunteer-run railway put on two steam train services, led by Andrew Barclay 0-6-0T ‘Doll’ of 1919, and Baldwin 4-6-0T WDLR No. 778 of 1917, with five departures throughout the day. Mums were treated to a free family photo and a potted plant gift, grown and donated by one of the railway’s own volunteers, whilst all families and visitors explored the historic Stonehenge Works site and learned about the history of sand quarrying and transport throughout the town. One local mum told the railway: “My husband has lived here for 35 years and yet this was our first visit! We had a great visit and we will definitely be back.”
Brian Hockley, head of the Carriage Department, reported on a recent project to upgrade a carriage in the railway’s rolling stock, for which Sunday 30th March was its first outing in revenue-earning service. “My team have put in hundreds of hours over the winter closure period, often working in a very cold shed, to completely refit the interior seating of No. 9, one of our oldest carriages. We completed all the design and fabrication in-house, increasing the number of passengers it can carry and improving comfort at the same time. The skills our volunteers bring are being passed on too, with our newly-formed young persons group learning from the wealth of experience in our team.”
The railway’s season continues now every Sunday (plus some Saturdays and Bank Holiday Mondays) all the way through to Hallowe’en, including diesel and steam galas, a new family fun day, a beer festival, and much more.
