Ropley Miniature Railway

01/10/2026

This weekend is the Watercressline Autumn Steam Gala. We will be running the Ropley Miniature Railway on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th October. We also hope to have our own steam loco, Ivor, running on both days, subject to availability. Entry to the site is limited to gala ticket holders. Hope you can join us!

26/09/2026

Just to let you know that we are running the Ropley Miniature Railway this Sunday 27th September as part of the Watercressline Cracking Hobbies theme day. Hope you can join us!

13/09/2026

Bit of a damp squib today due to the weather. Still, the Eurostar completed its first service day making 19 trips and hauling 84 passengers. During the quiet periods we took the opportunity to give Rudy, Melanie and Aaron some driving experience. Pleased to say that they all acquitted themselves very well and it’s good to know that we have some budding young drivers coming through. The Eurostar, being relatively simple to operate, is proving to be an ideal training vehicle.

12/09/2026

237 passengers enjoyed rides behind our steam loco Ivor on this the first day of the Watercressline Engineering Open Weekend. Sorry to say, though, that we have decided not to run Ivor tomorrow, but we do hope to utilise the Eurostar instead. So if you fancy a run behind this fine and powerful loco, Sunday is your opportunity, hope you can join us.

10/09/2026

Pleased to inform that we will be running the Ropley Miniature Railway both Saturday and Sunday for the next two weekends 12th / 13th and 19th / 20th of September.

This coming weekend is the Watercressline Engineering Open Weekend (https://watercressline.co.uk/special-days/open-weekend/) so why not come for the behind the scenes tour at Ropley and ride both the full size and miniature trains? For this Engineering Open Weekend we hope to have our steam loco Ivor running on both days, so don’t miss the opportunity to see and ride behind Ivor.

06/09/2026

We gave the rebuilt Ajax a run out yesterday. Since being rebuilt and repainted by Mark it had been used at the South Downs Light Railway during the their recent Diesel Gala but yesterday was its first full day of hauling service trains at Ropley. During the course of the day it made 22 complete trips and hauled 105 passengers, all without issue. It did then fail whilst putting the stock away at the end of the day. A key way has come adrift from the gearbox sprocket. Replacement will be straightforward and Ajax should soon be back in service.

In other news, one of our recent starters, David, has been painting our loco shed container. He was rewarded for his hard work with some driver experience in Ajax running light engine.

Mark has been painting the Class 67 chassis and also showed David and another new starter, Angus, how to do strimming on our embankment near Ropley High Level.

Alasdair continues to make good progress with his loco which he looks forward to putting into service following the sale of his other loco, Hasty, to Basildon Miniature Railway earlier in the year.

Alastair has been installing a handbrake to the Eurostar whilst I have been adding an On / Off / Battery Charge switch.

Ivor’s Tender has received a new stainless steel water tank and a mild steel coal bunker which was designed by Richard and installed by Richard and Alastair. Thanks are due to Jordan Panchen of The Nexa Group for the fabrication of the tank. We hope to have Ivor running for both days of next weekends Watercressline Engineering Open Day.

30/08/2026

Apologies, we won’t be running trains today or Bank Holiday Monday due to lack of volunteer availability.

22/08/2026

South Downs light railway ‘diesel and electric’ gala 22/08/2026. Our own Ajax, Class 67 Scarlet and 47834 Jerry Lee in Action. Video courtesy of James Green.

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17/08/2026

A video of the Hoddy Halt opening ceremony which I feel is a fitting tribute to Keith. Thanks to Brian Carter and Will Stratford for their efforts in producing this splendid record of the day.

15/08/2026

Today we officially opened Hoddy Halt. Keiths family were in attendance for the opening ceremony. His son Neil performed the honours. The family also kindly donated Keiths pride and joy, his loco Patricia, named after his wife, to the Ropley Miniature Railway.

We are grateful to the Hoddy family for the donation of Keiths loco and we will ensure that Patricia is looked after so that our visitors can enjoy it for many years to come.

We feel that both Hoddy Halt and Patricia are fitting memorials to a well respected and loved servant of both the Watercressline and the Ropley Miniature Railway.