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| South Downs Light Railway | |
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 The Thames Clyde Express On the South Downs Miniature Railway |
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2025) |
| South Downs Light Railway | |
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| The Thames Clyde Express On the South Downs Miniature Railway |
The South Downs Light Railway is a 10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) gauge railway at Pulborough in West Sussex, England. [1] The line opened in 2000, after the line was regauged to 10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) from 7+1⁄4 in (184 mm), the gauge of the previous line that operated in the grounds of the garden centre before the South Downs Light Railway arrived. The line operates in the grounds of the Pulborough Garden Centre, operating most weekends between March and September throughout the year.
On a regular day one of their two Exmoor Steam Locomotives will be in-charge of the service. Their two Exmoors are named ‘Pulborough’ and ‘Peggy’, these however are by no mean the only Locomotives on the line, as it features a wide variety and collection of scaled-down miniature and narrow gauge engines, such as LMS 6220 ‘Coronation’, LNER 4472 ‘Flying Scotsman’, Bagnall ‘Alice’, Hunslet "Agapanthus" and many more!
The railway has their own engine shed which houses a large and impressive collection of Locomotives, with a workshop at the back of it. [1] Just outside the engine shed there is a traverser to move the engines, and to the side of the shed is a turntable. There is also a covered drop-down pit so the engines can be inspected underneath. The old engine shed has now been converted to the railway's carriage shed, housing a large variety of operation stock, the carriage shed has had an additional extension to its eastern side to house more stock of the railways ever growing collection.
The railway has two stations, Stopham Road Station, where people start their journey. The station has a canopy and the booking office. There is also Hardham Halt which is not regularly open, however is used during gala days and during Christmas as the North Pole.
2020 was the railway's 20th year of operating in its current location and they hoped to host a 20th Gala Weekend which would have most likely host visiting engines plus special attractions. The railway announced that the gala weekend would happen in August, however it was impacted by the COVID pandemic. The railway has developed a lot since they first opened including a new expansion, new engine shed, new workshop plus a new station (Hardham Halt).
In 2025 the railway celebrated its 25th anniversary. Hosting an impressive gala to celebrate, featuring all available homefleet locos as long as visitors from the railways history, these being Atlantic ‘John Terrance’, Black 5 ‘Ayrshire Yeomary’ and a Class 35 Hymek.
The railway has two stations: Stopham Road which is the main station and where passengers start their journey. The Station is on the site of the old station from the 7+1⁄4 days, with the original structures (excluding the Signal Box) surviving until 2006, where it would then be demolished to make way for the new station, which was completed in 2007. This redevelopment include a new ticket office as well as impressive platform canopy. It has also since had the platform extended to accommodate multiple and busy days!
The Line has one of station at Hardham Halt, constructed in 2014 and 2015, it was build to sever as a Grotto when Santa visits as well as space for displays during special events, it is not regularly open to the public however.
In the 7+1⁄4 days a signal box was constructed at the station, this structure still survives today, more or less looking as it did back then however in Southern Railway green and cream to match the rest of the station. The box houses an impressive 16 lever Westinghouse mini frame, electronically controlling a series of signals and points around the line. In more recent years the box has had a new roof and new stairs, keeping this highly impressive piece of kit going.
The three principal locomotives were all constructed for the line by Exmoor Steam Railway. All three are of the 0-4-2 wheel arrangement and built to narrow gauge outline proportions. They are:
Additionally, several scale-outline steam locomotives (including scale model LNER Flying Scotsman and LMS Mogul engines) are on-site, and may be seen in operation on busy days and for gala events.
The railway hosts a range of passenger rolling stock and the railway hosts a scale freight train which can be seen during most of their events. Their passenger rolling stock consists of three different types of coaches. On a regular running day, the train usually consists of two open-top carriages, an open carriage and then, depending on the weather and the date, either a covered brake coach or an open-top brake coach. There is also an SR Brake Van that is used sometimes. Their scale freight train is seen during their gala days and is worth looking at.
