Hayling Seaside Railway, 21 April 2013. Wendy and No 1 climb away from the coast at Beachlands with the 11.45 train.
“Re-christened as ‘The Hayling Seaside Railway’ it has gone from strength to strength each successive year”
Hayling Seaside Railway 21 April 2013. Wendy with No 3 and No 5 at Beachlands.
On Sunday, 21 April 2013 the Hayling Seaside Railway’s trains were steam worked, a rare occurrence, the last occasion being in September 2010. The engine concerned was Bagnall 2091, a 0-4-0ST built in 1919 for use on the Dorothea Colliery in North Wales and named Wendy. It is usually kept at Bursledon Brickworks and was moved to Beachlands on Tuesday, 16 April. It worked all trains with Diesel Loco Number 1, Allan B, provided as train engine for braking power, and made a fine sight in the spring sunshine on this 2-foot gauge seaside railway, which is now threatened with closure.
The one-mile long Hayling Seaside Railway began life as the East Hayling Light Railway, formed by Bob Haddock, a member of the ill fated group who in the mid 1980s attempted to re-instate the ‘Hayling Billy’ Line. Havant Borough Council had already decided to turn the disused railway line into a cycleway & footpath which precluded any chance of rebuilding the line as standard gauge. Bob with some other like minded members suggested a narrow gauge railway, but that was dismissed by the society committee who declared that it had to be standard gauge or nothing. Sadly at the end of the day that was what they got – nothing.
Hayling Seaside Railway, 21 April 2013. No 1 Allan B at Beachlands.
Hayling Seaside Railway, 21 April 2013. Wendy and No 1 pass Mengham Halt with the 12.05 from Eastoke.
Hayling Seaside Railway, 21 April 2013. 0-4-0ST Wendy at Beachlands prior to working the 11.45 train.
21 April 2013. Bursledon-based Wendy at Beachlands.
Bob, along with a number of other avid fans, decided to set about creating their own railway elsewhere on Hayling Island. After numerous setbacks – all the chosen sites were refused planning permission by the council – eventually a site was found within the Mill Rythe Holiday Camp. So the EHLR was born and ran successfully for many years. Perhaps inspired by the success of the EHLR, Havant Council took the unexpected step of including a railway in their draft plan for Hayling’s popular Pleasure Beach. Bob jumped at the idea of running the railway at a more lucrative and prestigious location and submitted a plan for a narrow gauge railway to meet the Council’s criteria. Despite many problems and objections to the plan, and after a campaign lasting over twelve years, permission to build the railway was granted. Following closure of the EHLR at Mill Rythe, work started in October 2001 on the building of Beachlands Station on land leased from the neighbouring Funland Amusement Park. Red tape held up the track laying until May 2002. Work continued through 2002 and into 2003 although the original target of opening at Easter 2003 was not met. The line finally opened to passengers on 5 July 2003, running just under a mile to Eastoke with one intermediate halt at Mengham Road just under half way from Beachlands. Re-christened as ‘The Hayling Seaside Railway’ it has gone from strength to strength each successive year. Now however the owners of Funland Amusement Park want to redevelop the area; there are no plans to retain the station at Beachlands and the railway’s terminus is to be relocated.
Hayling Seaside Railway, 21 April 2013. Cab of 0-4-0ST Wendy at Beachlands.