Locomotive Bronhilde on woodland track near Warren Wood station
The Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway (BWLR) is located near the villages of Wormshill and Bredgar in Kent, just south of Sittingbourne. It is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway about three-quarters mile (1.2 km) in length.
The BWLR is a private line which has been built up as a hobby by a group of friends since the early 1970s. It is a fully operational line, operated to a high standard, with a station, engine sheds and workshops at Warren Wood station and a smaller station at the other end of the line, known as Stony Shaw.
The line is open to the public on the first Sunday of each month and most Wednesdays throughout the summer to raise money to maintain and manage the collection. On open days a number of other attractions are on display including a model railway, a Dutch street organ, a traction engine a steam roller, a Victorian beam engine, an American fire department Ladder truck and a range of old tractors and cars.
The Tearoom is open Wednesday thru Sunday (9:00 - 15:00) throughout the year offering a selection of teas, coffees, cakes, sandwiches snacks and lunches.
In June 2011, the railway appeared briefly in a segment filmed for the BBC's Saturday Kitchen programme which aired on 18 June 2011.
The Stations[]
- Warren Wood Station
- Stony Shaw Station
Rolling stock[]
Operational steam locomotives[]
Manufacturer | Works number
and year |
Wheel
arrangement |
Number and
name |
Notes | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arnold Jung | 3872/1931 | 0-6-0WT | No. 2 Katie | Used in sugar plantations in the Cameroons. Preserved in 1973 and acquired by the BWLR in 1980. Has flangeless centre driving wheels. | File:KatieBWR1998.jpg |
Hunslet Engine Co. | 1429/1922 | 0-4-0ST | No. 3 Lady Joan | Used in north Wales slate quarries until 1967. Has been used at Woburn Abbey and Knebworth. Acquired by the BWLR in 1996. | File:Hunslet 1429 of 1922.JPG |
W.G. Bagnall | 2088/1919 | 0-4-0ST | No. 4 Armistice | One of two locomotives used on the Birmingham, Tame and Rea District Drainage Board Railway Armistice, was preserved in 1961 and renamed Lady Luxborough. Acquired in 1991 by the BWLR and restored in 1992, regaining her original name. | File:Bagnall 2088 of 1919.JPG |
Orenstein & Koppel | 5668/1912 | 0-4-0WT | No. 6 Eigiau | Ex Penrhyn Quarry Railway. Sold to Bressingham in 1963. Acquired by the BWLR in 1995. | File:Orenstein & Koppel 5668 of 1912.JPG |
Decauville | 246/1897 | 0-4-2T | No. 7 Victory | Used at the Invicta Sugar Mill, Giru, Queensland, Australia. Sold in 1963 and used on a tourist railway. Acquired by the BWLR in 1984. | File:Decauville 246 of 1897.JPG |
Orenstein and Koppel | 12722/1936 | 0-4-0WT | No. 8 Helga | Used at various construction sites in northern Germany until 1957. To UK in 1970 and used on the Brecon Mountain Railway. Acquired by the BWLR in 1999. | |
John Fowler & Co. | 13573/1912 | 0-4-2T | No, 10 Zambezi | Originally built to (19+3⁄4 in) gauge. Used on Sena Estates railway, Mopeia, Mozambique, hauling sugar. Worked until 1965 then became derelict. To UK in 1998. regauged to 2 ft (610 mm) gauge. Steam test passed in 2009 and entered service in 2010. | File:Zambezi10.jpg |
Steam locomotives undergoing overhaul or restoration[]
Manufacturer | Works number
and year |
Wheel
arrangement |
Number and
name |
Notes | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Fowler & Co. | 18800/1930 | 0-6-0WT | No. 9 Limpopo | Ex Sena Sugar Estates, No. 17. Used at sugar mill in Mopeia, Mozambique. Acquired by the BWLR in 1998 and restored to working order, entering service in 2003. | File:Fowler 18800 0f 1930.JPG |
Operational diesel locomotives[]
Manufacturer | Works number
and year |
Wheel Arrangement | Number and
name |
Notes | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baguley-Drewry | 3775/1983 | 4wDH | No. 5 Bredgar | Worked on the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) lines at MoD Milford Haven. Acquired in 1995 and regauged to 2 ft (610 mm) gauge. | File:Baguley-Drewry 3775 of 1983.JPG |
Andrew Barclay | 765/1988 | 4wDM | No. 14 Milstead | MoD No. NG54, Ex RAF Chilmark. | |
Schöma | 5239/1991 | 4wDM | Jenny | Used during the construction of the Channel Tunnel |
Diesel locomotives undergoing overhaul or restoration[]
Manufacturer | Works number
and year |
Wheel
arrangement |
Number and name | Notes | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Motor Rail | 9869/1953 | 4wDM | No. 12 Bicknor | Supplied new to Great Ouse River Authority, Ely. In service until 1977. Acquired by the BWLR in 2010 from The Hop Farm Country Park, Beltring. | |
Motor Rail | 7073/1936 | 4wPM | No. 13 Lyne |
Locomotives no longer at the railway[]
Manufacturer | Works number and year | Wheel Arrangement | Number and name | Notes | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
L. Schwartzkopff | 9124/1927 | 0-4-0WT | No. 1 Bronhilde | Used at the Norddeutsche Affinerie copper smelting works, Hamburg. Sold to Bressingham in 1976. Acquired in 1979, it was the first steam locomotive at the BWLR. Sold to Richmond Light Railway. | File:Schwartzkopf 9124 of 1927.JPG |
Henschel & Sohn | 29582/1956 | 0-6-0WT | No. 105 Siam | Worked on a sugar plantation in Chonburi Province, Thailand. Has visited Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) gauge. Sold to a railway in Latvia. | File:Henschel 29582 of 1956.JPG |
Hudswell Clarke | DM1366/1965 | 0-6-0DM | 15 | Ex National Coal Board Harden Colliery and Seaham Colliery. Sold to South Tynedale Railway in 1990. To BWLR in 2006. | File:Hudswell-Clarke DM1366 of 1965.JPG |
Other exhibits[]
Other exhibits to be found at the BWLR include:
Beam engine[]
Beam engine
An 1870 beam engine built by Thomas Horn to a design by James Watt. One of two supplied to a waterworks at Ashford. Acquired in 1988 and restored to working order.
Twinning[]
The BWLR is twinned with the Chemin de Fer de La Valée de l'Ouche (CFVO), Bligny-sur-Ouche, Côte-d'Or, France.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- British narrow gauge railways