Despite this being our fourth visit to the 2ft gauge 3¼ mile Leighton Buzzard Railway in 11 years, all 30 places went in less than 48 hours. Members convened from far and wide from about 09.30 onwards at Pages Park station (a pleasant walk from the mainline station) and were ticked off the participants list. Curiositea (the onsite café) opened a little early, before 10.00, prompting a rapid ingress for hot drinks and bacon sandwiches.

Around 10.00, there was clearly not only movement in the yard but also the station, where a longer main line train headed by twin Motor Rail's 43+44 built 1954 sat in the usual P1, while battery electric NG23 built 1973 by Baguley-Drewry sat on a solitary coach in rare P2 (right looking from the buffer stops).

The plan was to use the latter on the Page's Park shed lines, with the former afterwards on the run to Stonehenge Works. So initially about ⅔ of the party set off to the end of the lengthy yard headshunt and then in succession the doors on Roads 4, 3 & 2 (with much point clipping at every turn), before halting about a coach length inside the shed on Road 1. This prompted a quizzical enquiry as to why not go to the end of the shed, please, completely devoid of stock. Unable to assemble a coherent reason, our very convivial MOM saw us to the very end sufficient to be able to see out of the door! On returning to Page's Park P2, our coach propelled to the end of the run round headshunt before returning to the platform and swapping passengers. The second party then did it all again, rather quicker after the practice run.

On completion, the whole group boarded our double headed special which duly clagged its way out of Page's Park P1 and, punctuated by occasional stops for the level crossings which offered more thrash and clag, headed towards Stonehenge Works. We gave a little wave to passers-by who, used to steam hauled trains, often videoed this unusually noisy train. This included one mother with a small child in a push chair beaming ear to ear as she panned her phone to preserve our passing while our leading loco offered a direct close range hit of claggy exhaust to her offspring sitting in the pushchair! No doubt this will instil a subliminal appreciation of two-stroke narrow gauge locomotives that will last a lifetime‽






Participants observed the Eastern Link Road Tunnel deviation, opened 13 Mar 2022 and new for many on the tour, then finally ran past Stonehenge Works and along the Munday's Hill extension opened 30 Apr 2022, also on the passenger Main Line. Here, both locos ran round and propelled us right onto the buffers, in fact so intimate was our relationship with them the MOM welcomed us to their new extension! We then returned on the Main Line to Stonehenge Works platform. Here we lost our twin Motor Rails and gained NG51 built Barclay 1987 from Eastriggs Ordnance Depot. This backed on the rear and then took us over the crossover at Coulthard Jn, onto the non-passenger Relief Line which we used all the way, pausing for the trap points beyond the Limit of Shunt. NG51 then ran off, ran round and propelled our tour towards the buffers from the Relief Lines, after which we ran forward and propelled back over the crossover to complete the layout at this end; return to Stonehenge was on the Relief Line.





















(TRACKmaps 4 p3D 2022) Next, Motor Rails 8641 & 8745 pulled a single coach off the rear of our train and 'top & tailed' this ECS to the road towards the Works on the level crossing. About half of us boarded here and initially travelled to the left hand road of the Works shed; the lines elsewhere in this area were inaccessible as the points are in very poor condition. Then began an exploration of the Shed Roads, these are arbitrarily numbered 1-15 (yes, 15 now, with more to be laid!). Left to right saw us visit Roads 1, where two lads actually pushed a skip wagon before us to achieve maximum coverage, 2 and 3. Our train then motored up to Coulthard Jn to obtain overlap with the Relief Line but didn't visit the central fan. The tour did probe Roads 9, 11 down the side of the assembly of rather rickety sheds and then to near the end of line of Road 15. All of this both back and forth needed a VAST AMOUNT of point clipping and, if one lad in particular needed guidance at the start of the day he was a passed instructor by the end! They then did it all over again for the second party, just to hone those point clipping skills a bit more!









After doing all available track, the coach was returned to the back of the train, NG51 took the front and we returned (via the other side of Leedon Loop) to Page's Park P2, via the connection outstanding there.

One participant, who had first visited in 1976, remarked on the very considerable house building since then in what were originally wide open fields alongside the railway. The 2022 tunnel deviation was fully funded by a housing developer, so that the railway went under their estate access road rather than have what would be a high risk level crossing; the original railway route was still visible.

This was a very efficient trip which saw us back by 14.45 - but, with four of these since 2014, they knew what we wanted and how to do it! A member who had been on them all considered this to be the best one to date. We thanked our several hosts and headed for the exit, job done! Walking back to Leighton Buzzard station for trains home, some were able to go via a ¾ mile trackbed section of the former double track Luton to Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard line (CP from 26 Apr 1965), now a cycle way and footpath. The narrow gauge railway's original purpose, until 1969, was to carry sand to Grovebury Sand Siding west of Billington Road Crossing, on that standard gauge line, 480yd beyond Page's Park station.

[Participants are very grateful to Simon Mortimer who organised this excellent visit for the Society.]