Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway

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 narrow gauge railway about 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.BBC Kent article on the Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway 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 event 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 to Sunday (9:00–15:00) throughout the year offering a selection of teas, coffees, cakes, sandwiches snacks and lunches.

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 numberand year Wheelarrangement Number andname Notes Photo Commons Link Orenstein & Koppel 5668/1912  6 Eigiau Ex Penrhyn Quarry Railway. Sold to Bressingham in 1963. Acquired by the BWLR in 1995. Decauville 246/1897  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. Orenstein and Koppel12722/1936 8 HelgaUsed 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  10 Zambezi Originally built to gauge. Used on Sena Estates railway, Mopeia, Mozambique, hauling sugar. Worked until 1965 then became derelict. To UK in 1998. regauged to gauge. Steam test passed in 2009 and entered service in 2010. John Fowler & Co.15513/1920 V11Originally built to 500mm gauge, it worked with no.10 "Zambezi" at the Sena Sugar Estates in Mozambique, hauling cane sugar. After the Mozambique civil war, the railway was derelict. Returned to service in 2023, in "as delivered" finish.

Steam locomotives undergoing overhaul or restoration Manufacturer Works numberand year Wheelarrangement Number andname Notes Photo Commons Link John Fowler & Co. 18800/1930  9 Limpopo Ex Sena Sugar Estates,  17. Used at sugar mill in Mopeia, Mozambique. Acquired by the BWLR in 1998 and restored to working order, entering service in 2003. Arnold Jung3872/1931No. 2 KatieUsed in sugar plantations in the Cameroons. Preserved in 1973 and acquired by the BWLR in 1980. Has flangeless centre driving wheels.

Operational diesel locomotives Manufacturer Works numberand year Wheelarrangement Number andname Notes Photo Baguley-Drewry 3775/1983  5 Bredgar Worked on the lines at MoD Milford Haven. Acquired in 1995 and regauged to gauge. Andrew Barclay 765/1988  14 Milstead MoD No. NG54, Ex RAF Chilmark. Arrived at BWLR in 2014. Now in BWLR blue. Schöma 5239/1991 Jenny Used during the construction of the Channel Tunnel Arrived at BWLR in 2016.

Diesel locomotives undergoing overhaul or restoration Manufacturer Works numberand year Wheelarrangement Number andname Notes Photo Motor Rail 9869/1953 No. 12 Bicknor Supplied new to Great Ouse River Authority, Ely, and in service until 1977. Then at Cotswold Wildlife Park railway. Acquired by the BWLR in 2010 from The Hop Farm Country Park, Beltring. Motor Rail 7073/1936 No. 13 Lyne Works No. MR 7073. Built 1936. Built as a Petrol loco. Converted to a Deutz air cooled engine and new box body by Alan Keef in 1970.

Was used by Sinclair Horticulture Bolton Fell Cumbria and served there until 2016 when it moved to BWLR.

Locomotives no longer at the railway Manufacturer Works numberand year Wheelarrangement Number andname Notes Photo Commons Link L. Schwartzkopff 9124/1927  1 Bronhilde Used at the Norddeutsche Affinerie copper smelting works, Hamburg. Sold to Bressingham Steam and Gardens in 1976. Acquired in 1979, it was the first steam locomotive at the BWLR. Sold to Richmond Light Railway in 2021. Henschel & Sohn 29582/1956  105 Siam Worked on a sugar plantation in Chonburi Province, Thailand. Has visited Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. gauge. Sold to a railway in Latvia. Hudswell Clarke DM1366/1965  15 (unnamed) Ex National Coal Board Harden Colliery and Seaham Colliery. Sold to South Tynedale Railway in 1990. To BWLR in 2006, then left in 2021. Hunslet Engine Co. 1429/1922  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. Moved to an initially undisclosed location in Kent, 2026. W.G. Bagnall 2088/1919  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. Moved to Bressingham Steam and Gardens, 2026.

Traction engines The museum has four steam road locomotives in its collection; some are operational and steamed on open days and others are undergoing repair, restoration or overhaul.

Manufacturer Works numberand year Registrationnumber and name Notes Photo Garrett 33442/1919 BL 9009 Agricultural engine used at Hartford Manor, Faringdon until 1943, then at Witney until 1950. Relegated to heating a greenhouse at Brize Norton until preserved in 1964. Has been named King of the Road and Caroline in preservation but did not carry a name during its working life.Acquired by the BWLR in 1988.Operational and used on event days. Ruston & Hornsby 115023/1922 XM 6373 Steam roller new to Henry Woodham, Catford in 1922. Used on road repairs until the 1950s.Preserved in 1978 and acquired by the BWLR in 1988.Operational and used on event days.

Cars

Bean cars The BWLR is home to a collection of Bean cars.

Model Power Yearbuilt Registrationnumber Notes Photo Model 6 Tourer 14 HP 1923 SV9172 Exported to Australia in 1923, re-imported in 2001. Model 2 1922 ME5904 Under restoration as of May 2015. Model 2 1923 BU2789 One of the most original Bean cars in preservation. This car left the collection 2012. Model 3 1925 PE2445 Converted to a pick-up in the early 1930s. Restored to five-seat tourer in 1974. This car left the collection 2012. Model 4 1925 XW8431 Used by a funeral director as a following car. This car left the collection 2012. Model 4 1926 FD3435 Car has original body, which has four identical doors. This car left the collection 2012. Model 6 1927 SV8671 Exported new to Australia. Fitted with a body made locally in Adelaide. This car left the collection 2012. Omnibus 1929 UL1771 Body by Birch Bros, Kentish Town on a Bean 1½ Ton chassis. Used as a caravan 1941–1966, bought for preservation in 1966 and restored 1988–1991. This vehicle left the collection 2012. Model 11 1930 FG6161 Built on a 1½ Ton chassis. Spent its working life in Wooler, Northumberland. Bought for preservation in 1970 and restored 1990–2000. This car left the collection 2012. Pick-up Truck 1926 This vehicle left the collection 2012. Van XM7525 This vehicle left the collection 2012.

Other cars

Manufacturer Model Yearbuilt Registrationnumber Notes Photo Rolls-Royce Phantom I 1928 YX4095

Other exhibits Other exhibits to be found at the BWLR include:

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.

See also British narrow gauge railways

References