Help us by a new train!

We’re launching a fundraiser to buy a whole train – not just a locomotive but three wagons as well!

The locomotive is a Clayton battery electric locomotive (work no. B0483, built in 1976) from the Ministry of Defence site at Shoeburyness, Essex, and is believed to be the last working MOD 2ft 6in gauge railway in the UK. The locomotive looks very similar to the Railway’s former battery electric locomotive which was named ‘The Tank’ but was scrapped shortly before the preservation of the Railway.

The wagons are of a ‘clam shell’ design so they release the contents through the bottom of the vehicle. They had previously been used for recycling ammunition so some modifications will be required to allow ballast to be carried instead.

We believe this train would be invaluable to both a permanent way (track gang) and in general use for shunting coaches, wagons and locomotives at Kemsley Down. Our current PWay Train is formed of pulp wagons and are at standard Bowaters Railway height, whereas these MoD wagons are much smaller making manual handling of ballast and sleepers much easier (we already have a wagon suitable to join the train for sleeper movements).

We are fundraising for £15,000 to buy the train, transport it from its current storage site and get it up and running (it needs a battery charger and some other work to make the wagons usable for ballast delivery). This funding needs to be in place within three months as the locomotive and wagons need to be moved from site by then.

Please click here to visit our Just Giving page to make a donation.

Here’s a photo of our current PWay Train – the ballast is loaded from the white sacks into wheelbarrows on site: