Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway

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 Template:Track gauge narrow gauge railway about Template:Convert 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.<ref>BBC Kent article on the Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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	Commons Link
Hunslet Engine Co.	1429/1922	Template:Whyte	Template:Abbr 3 Lady Joan<ref name="south-east">Template:James-NarrowGauge</ref>	Used in north Wales slate quarries until 1967. Has been used at Woburn Abbey and Knebworth. Acquired by the BWLR in 1996.<ref name="Guide" />		Template:Commons category-icon
W.G. Bagnall	2088/1919	Template:Whyte	Template:Abbr 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.<ref name=Guide/>		Template:Commons category-icon
Orenstein & Koppel	5668/1912	Template:Whyte	Template:Abbr 6 Eigiau	Ex Penrhyn Quarry Railway. Sold to Bressingham in 1963. Acquired by the BWLR in 1995.<ref name=Guide/>		Template:Commons category-icon
Decauville	246/1897	Template:Whyte	Template:Abbr 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.<ref name=Guide/>
Orenstein and Koppel	12722/1936	Template:Nowrap	Template:Abbr 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.<ref name="Guide" />
John Fowler & Co.	13573/1912	Template:Whyte	Template:Abbr 10 Zambezi	Originally built to Template:Track gauge gauge. Used on Sena Estates railway, Mopeia, Mozambique, hauling sugar.<ref name=Loco1/> Worked until 1965 then became derelict.<ref name=HR132/> To UK in 1998. regauged to Template:Track gauge gauge.<ref name=Loco1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Steam test passed in 2009 and entered service in 2010.<ref name=HR132>Template:Cite journal</ref>		Template:Commons category-icon

Steam locomotives undergoing overhaul or restoration

Manufacturer	Works number and year	Wheel arrangement	Number and name	Notes	Photo	Commons Link
John Fowler & Co.	18800/1930	Template:Nowrap	Template:Abbr 9 Limpopo	Ex Sena Sugar Estates, Template:Abbr 17. Used at sugar mill in Mopeia, Mozambique. Acquired by the BWLR in 1998 and restored to working order, entering service in 2003.<ref name=Loco3>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>		Template:Commons category-icon
Arnold Jung	3872/1931	Template:Nowrap	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.<ref name="Guide" />		Template:Commons category-icon

Operational diesel locomotives

Manufacturer	Works number and year	Wheel arrangement	Number and name	Notes	Photo
Baguley-Drewry	3775/1983	Template:Nowrap	Template:Abbr 5 Bredgar	Worked on the Template:Track gauge lines at MoD Milford Haven. Acquired in 1995 and regauged to Template:Track gauge gauge.<ref name=Guide/>
Andrew Barclay	765/1988	Template:Nowrap	Template:Abbr 14 Milstead	MoD No. NG54, Ex RAF Chilmark.<ref name="BWLR Diesels" /> Arrived at BWLR in 2014.
Schöma	5239/1991	Template:Nowrap	Jenny	Used during the construction of the Channel Tunnel<ref name="BWLR Diesels" /> Arrived at BWLR in 2016.

Diesel locomotives undergoing overhaul or restoration

Manufacturer	Works number and year	Wheel arrangement	Number and name	Notes	Photo
Motor Rail	9869/1953	Template:Nowrap	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.<ref name=HR139>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Motor Rail	7073/1936	Template:Nowrap	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 number and year	Wheel arrangement	Number and name	Notes	Photo	Commons Link
L. Schwartzkopff	9124/1927	Template:Whyte	Template:Abbr 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.<ref name=Guide>Template:Cite book</ref> Sold to Richmond Light Railway in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>		Template:Commons category-icon
Henschel & Sohn	29582/1956	Template:Nowrap	Template:Abbr 105 Siam	Worked on a sugar plantation in Chonburi Province, Thailand. Has visited Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. Template:Track gauge gauge.<ref name=Guide/> Sold to a railway in Latvia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Hudswell Clarke	DM1366/1965	Template:Nowrap	15	Ex National Coal Board Harden Colliery and Seaham Colliery. Sold to South Tynedale Railway in 1990. To BWLR in 2006, then left in 2021.<ref name=Loco2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 number and year	Registration number 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.<ref name="Traction">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref name="Traction" />

Cars

Bean cars

The BWLR is home to a collection of Bean cars.<ref name=Bean>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Model	Power	Year built	Registration number	Notes	Photo
Model 6 Tourer	14 HP	1923	SV9172	Exported to Australia in 1923, re-imported in 2001.<ref name=Bean />
Model 2	Template:Convert	1922	ME5904	Under restoration as of May 2015.<ref name=Bean />
Model 2	Template:Convert	1923	BU2789	One of the most original Bean cars in preservation. This car left the collection 2012.<ref name=Bean />
Model 3	Template:Convert	1925	PE2445	Converted to a pick-up in the early 1930s. Restored to five-seat tourer in 1974. This car left the collection 2012.<ref name=Bean />
Model 4	Template:Convert	1925	XW8431	Used by a funeral director as a following car. This car left the collection 2012.<ref name=Bean />
Model 4	Template:Convert	1926	FD3435	Car has original body, which has four identical doors. This car left the collection 2012.<ref name=Bean />
Model 6		1927	SV8671	Exported new to Australia. Fitted with a body made locally in Adelaide. This car left the collection 2012.<ref name=Bean />
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.<ref name=Bean />
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.<ref name=Bean />
Pick-up Truck		1926		This vehicle left the collection 2012.
Van			XM7525	This vehicle left the collection 2012.

Other cars

Manufacturer	Model	Year built	Registration number	Notes	Photo
Rolls-Royce	Phantom I	1928	YX4095

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.<ref name=Beam>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Twinning

The BWLR is twinned with the Chemin de Fer de La Valée de l'Ouche (CFVO), Bligny-sur-Ouche, Côte-d'Or, France.<ref name="CFVO">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=Twin>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• British narrow gauge railways