Fawley Hill is unique and this was such a brilliant day out. This is a private estate owed by Lady Judy and the late Sir William McAlpine. The site has it’s own standard gauge railway and is open to the public by invitation only on specific running days in the year. Sir William was a prolific collector of all things railway related, and that will show in some of these pictures. From the 1 in 13 gradient on the hill line, the frankly astonishing museum collection and beautiful estate, there is a lot to take in. This event was even more special as 1340 0-4-0 ‘Trojan’ was visiting from Didcot and giving rides on the valley line just for this weekend.
Our journey begins at the top of the estate, at Somersham station. There’s a working wig-wag rail crossing and a station with artifacts from many different places that make no sense in combination (like signs for Box tunnel close to a restored Midland Railway signal box) but it’s glorious to see.
Working on the hill line today is the Class 03 0-6-0 diesel shunter. We hop aboard and its down the line to the first stop which is Bourne Again Junction.
Once at the junction, we swap over trains. The Class 03 departs as quickly as it arrived, and in the distance, Trojan can be heard panting along the line. We board the train and head on down the line.
Trojan reaches the end of the line, at Inverernie station. It’s not possible to alight here today, so the train simply stops to take on a bit of a water before powering back to Bourne Again Junction.
Once back at Somersham station, there is plenty more to see inside the museum, unfortunately, it’s not permitted to take photographs in there, so enjoy the rest of these images from the site.
