Ruislip Lido Railway

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Ruislip Lido Railway

The UK's longest 12-inch narrow gauge railway The Ruislip Lido Railway is a 12-inch narrow gauge railway operated entirely by volunteers.
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The line runs through the woodlands skirting the lake from Woody Bay Station beside the beach, all the way round to Ruislip Lido (Water's Edge) Station which is close to the car park. Here you can watch the loco being turned on the turntable ready for the return journey. The two and a half mile round trip takes about 35 minutes. All our trains are wheelchair, pushchair and buggy friendly. The serv

ice is normally operated by one of our large diesel locomotives. On summer Sundays and Bank Holidays, our steam locomotive 'Mad Bess', which is a half scale version of the Ffestiniog Railway locomotive 'Blanche', may pull the train. Our railway shop stocks a wide range of merchandise, whilst our Tea Room offers a selection of teas, coffees and light refreshments. PLEASE NOTE – We do not run the car parks, toilets, San Remo café, Waters Edge carvery or anything else within the Lido, just the railway. We operate the trains on the railway, the small gift shop in our station building by the beach and the small Tea Room within our station by the car park. Please do not complain to us about the facilities mentioned above or mark us down in reviews for these areas… We have no control over them!

01/08/2026

They asked, it answered #90’s

27/07/2026

Trains are now operating daily, through to Tuesday 1st September.

Full details of our timetable and prices can be found here on our website: https://www.ruisliplidorailway.org/timetable

You can book tickets in advance by heading to https://tickets.ruisliplidorailway.org/

19/07/2026

Santa will be returning to the RLR in 2026....

Our ever popular Santa Special tickets will go on sale on Tuesday 1st September 2026. Further details are available on our website.

10/07/2026

A regular highlight for visitors is the gnome collection on the platform at Haste Hill. The gnomes have gradually been acquired and donated over multiple years, leading to a nice collection that adds life and colour to the little used station. It is amazing to watch the enjoyment children have spotting the gnomes and animals without fail on every trip.

Rob, one of our volunteer drivers as well as a lineside volunteer, has taken the task of giving the gnomes a spruce up with some detailed TLC. After making some repairs and carefully stripping the existing finishes, the gnomes were primed ready for an exceptionally skilled paint job to make them as good as new. The detail of the work and quality of the finish is wonderful!

Volunteers going the extra mile to complete additional projects like this is what helps to make the RLR really great - thanks to Rob for all his skilled time and effort.

We are always keen to add to the family, both in volunteers and gnomes - any old gnomes who may be looking for a new home are very welcome to join the family at Haste Hill.

03/07/2026

We are pleased to announce that following successful repairs to our steam engine Mad Bess, she will be operating on the following dates in July:

- Sunday 5th July

- Saturday 11th July

- Sunday 12th July

- Saturday 18th July

- Sunday 19th July

- Wednesday 22nd July

- Thursday 23rd July

- Friday 24th July

- Sunday 26th July

- Tuesday 28th July

- Wednesday 29th July

- Thursday 30th July

- Friday 31st July

Trains will also operate daily 12:00 - 17:00 from Wednesday 22nd July until Tuesday 1st September for the summer holidays.

Head to https://tickets.ruisliplidorailway.org/ to book your tickets in advance.

28/06/2026

Work has progressed well on Mad Bess, with the superheater repairs completed by a local company, and work on the pony truck completed in house. Sharing the same 9" wheels as the carriages, reprofiled carriage wheelsets have been installed, with the original pony truck wheels joining the queue to be reused where appropriate. Our Workshop team were hard at it today piecing the front end of the locomotive back together.

Bess should be back in service on Saturday 11th July, with plenty of further July dates to be published shortly.

21/06/2026

Congratulations to Andy Miller, who has now qualified as a diesel driver. Andy Miller joined the railway as a member in 2023 and has worked his way up from platform staff, to Guard, and now a driver. For more information about how you could get involved please see the RLR website.

16/06/2026

Another project recently completed by our volunteers has been the upgrade of our two oldest flat wagons, used for maintenance activities around the line.

After purchasing 2 new heavy duty flat wagons from Alan Keef Ltd in 2021, constructed to the maximum loading gauge available, the remaining two wagons have been brought up to the same dimensions. This upgrades the tired deck on the wagons, and allows a considerable uplift in capacity when undertaking work around the line.

The wagons originally were constructed from 2 identical Severn Lamb built coach frames & bogies, purchased in early 1984. These were intended initially to have bodies added at the RLR to increase the number of coaches, but after the route of constructing larger, covered coaches in house was chosen later in 1984, the frames were decked in wood and put to important use as flat wagons as the railway was extended around the lake through the 80s and 90s.

The wagons have seen huge use over the previous 40 years, serving right up to 2021 as the only wagons available for moving large loads and supporting our significant maintenance work throughout the year. With custom frames made to adapt them to carry loose materials as required, moving up to 3 tons of ballast per wagon along with our fleet of ballast hoppers, as well as the ability to move anything else places loose on top, right up to carrying new 40ft lengths of rail when operating as a pair with a custom made long coupling bar.

Originally 4.7m long and 0.75m wide, we now have 4 near identical flat wagons measuring an impressive 5.4m long and 0.925m wide. The new frames have been constructed by a local steel fabrication company and finished at the lido by our Workshop team with carefully applied paint, sealant and through piping for air brakes. The original bogies are used, but in the longer term, we hope to construct new braked bogies for the wagons to match the heavy duty pair from Alan Keef.

The wagons were finished just in time to make an appearance as part of an impressive mixed train during our recent gala, running with the old frames carried on top - showing the impressive size difference. 4 enormous, sleek flat wagons running in formation is an extremely impressive sight.

The original frames have been donated to the Basildon Miniature Railway who we have assisted in a consultancy capacity on various matters - the frames will assist with their ongoing restoration of the railway.

14/06/2026

Regular fans may have noticed that Mad Bess running dates have not been published for June. Bess unfortunately is currently unavailable, due to a leak on one of the superheater elements - the process of repairing this is ongoing, and we hope to have Bess back in operation by the middle of July.

As on the 'full sized' version, Linda & Blanche , the boiler on Mad Bess is superheated, a relatively rare feature on locomotives of this gauge - indeed Bess is the only superheated 12/12.25" steam locomotive in the country.

Steam produced in the boiler on 'wet' or 'saturated', non-superheated steam locomotives will pass straight to the cylinders when the regulator demands steam. This steam still contains a high moisture content, and thus, if heated further, this moisture content can be converted to steam, increasing the temperature and volume of the steam supplied to the cylinders.

On a superheated locomotive, instead of passing straight to the cylinders, steam arrives at the superheater 'wet' header, after being demanded by the regulator. This steam is then sent down superheater elements. These elements pass back towards the firebox, housed inside large boiler tubes at the top of the tube stack, before returning back to the superheater header. The steam in these elements is therefore further heated, after the period of exposure to further heat. From here it is sent to the cylinders, where the higher temperature, more expansive steam is of greater use. Superheated steam has 30% more volume than wet steam, and therefore results in a water and fuel saving by reducing the demand on the boiler to produce steam.

Combined with a 180psi boiler and large cylinders, the superheating helps cement Bess as the 3rd most powerful 12/12.25" steam loco in the country.

A pinhole leak in one of the superheater elements allows steam to escape into the smokebox before it has reached the cylinders, and thus out of the chimney - significantly reducing the available power on the locomotive.

Removing the superheaters to effect the repair requires the removal of the smokebox, which requires the removal of the steam driven air pump, and significant associated plumbing. The welding will be undertaken locally by a specialist coded welder, and after hydraulic testing to ensure no further leaks are present, the process of reassembly can commence.

While the locomotive is unavailable, work will take place on the pony truck to restore the wheel profiles. The pony truck underneath the smokebox at the front of the loco, helping to guide the loco into curves and reduce fl**ge wear on the driving wheels. Being inside framed, the pony truck is more complex than a standard wheelset to set up on the lathe for turning, but it is light work for our master machinist Paul.

11/06/2026

Our volunteers have been hard at work completing some long term upgrades on our water tower at Woody Bay over the last few months.

The current water tower was constructed in 2018, and features a 1,250L tank on a substantial steel framework, clad in brick. Initially, the tank was clad in standard 8x4 sheets of plywood with some basic edging to give a reasonable appearance, but after 7 years this was starting to show it's age, having only ever been intended as a temporary measure.

With the old cladding gone, the opportunity was taken to thoroughly clean the internals of the tank which were in a poor condition after exposure to sunlight after a period of time without a roof on, and internal parts such as the float valve were serviced. An overflow system was also added to the tank for the first time.

The outlets have been replumbed after putting up a significant fight and covering the team in 1,250L of water on more than one occasion of working underneath them, along with new lockable, spring loaded operating handles manufactured and installed.

After repairs to the brickwork, a new frame constructed using surplus / scrap wood was erected around the tank, before insulation was added all around the tank. New lightweight plastic cladding was then finally installed onto the frame. The cladding looks extremely smart, and requires nothing more than a basic clean for ongoing maintenance. A simple bitumen sheet roof, running to a gutter and feeding our garden next to the tower finished the external work on the tower, just in time for autumn last year.

Our team have since been hard at work replumbing and improving the feeds below the tank, and adding a false floor to protect the fragile parts of the plumbing. Most importantly, a water softener has been installed to significantly improve the feed water going into the tank, and therefore into the steam locomotive boiler. Trials are ongoing and will take some time, but we hope the softened water will allow the intervals between boiler washouts on the steam locomotive to be extended, as well as helping the long term health of the boiler.

Further improvements completed include automatic lighting inside the tower, electrical outlets inside and out, and thermostatically controlled space heating to remove the need to drain and refill the tank in cold weather.

A very smart water tower now results, one that will last long into the future with very little maintenance required. Another impressive behind the scenes achievement from volunteers, crucial to keeping the railway operating efficiently.

Address

Reservoir Road
London
HA47TY

Website

http://www.ruisliplidorailway.org/

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