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| View across the vale from
Ropley Loco Yard (4th December 2002): Tony Wood Download this photo for your desktop wallpaper (142KB J-peg) |
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The Watercress Line is a standard-gauge heritage steam railway running over ten miles of steeply-graded scenic track in mid-Hampshire, England.
Because of our gradients, we use steam locomotives mostly of the higher power classes, and they are worked hard. This is particularly exciting to visiting enthusiasts and for our working volunteers, but creates a lot of maintenance work. Steam engines always were high-maintenance machines, but in their heyday labour was plentiful and cheap, so this was unimportant. Nowadays it would be financially unviable to operate them without the unpaid help of dedicated volunteers. Our trains in action
Riveting the smokebox
Worldwide, there are many enthusiasts of steam railways with a constant and avid interest in what we do. Many are heavily involved in their own local railways, but large numbers regret through age, location, or health, an inability to give practical help to the cause of keeping steam alive. Unsurprisingly, for these it is the locomotives that get most attention and we see guests fascinated by what goes on at our Ropley MPD (Motive Power Depot). They like to follow every step of our restoration and maintenance processes. Often visitors are disappointed to have missed something special by just hours or days. For these, and for armchair enthusiasts everywhere, we maintain the Loco Shed sections of this website.
Because this website is so frequently updated, you should press F5 on your computer's keyboard to ensure you see the very latest version of any page displayed.
Bigger
Riveting the smokebox
Browsers interested in the practicalities of maintenance or renovation
will
find many years of our work illustrated with photos via this
website's 
Loco Shed Page Archives.
There are
sections on the
complete restoration of such locomotives as:
Bulleid West
Country,
Ivatt 2MT,
Riddles BR Std 5MT,
and
Gresley A4.
For students there is
an illustrated set on How
A Steam Railway
Locomotive Works
Assembling an injector
The commercial
side of this website and our ticketing website show in detail what we offer to our customers
including sections with photos and videos of our past
mainline operations,
of our own
special events, e.g.
Thomas the Tank Engine,
1940s Re-enactments, Steam Enthusiast Galas
Further pages cover other aspects of the work needed to maintain a fully operational railway (e.g. carriages, permanent way, station restorations, facilities), and use of our railway as a location for film or TV
Loco superheater header and elements
We have a lively Letters Page and take pride in putting contributors' photos and videos on this website very soon after they were taken: many browsers check often so as not to miss anything
Latest News from MHR
Ropley Loco
Shed
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Our trains in action (web-movies)
Carriage
Restorations and
Maintenance
... Earlier
Diesel
Locos at Mid Hants
Railway
Latest News at the Mid Hants
Railway
...
Archives
(Index)
Guide to Mid Hants Railway (The Watercress Line)
Spectacular dawn and dusk scenes at Ropley
How to get to the Watercress Line
|
The Watercress Line, The Railway
Station, Alresford, Hampshire, England, SO24 9JG |
Webmaster:
tonywood@watercressline.co.uk Photo (2004): Horace
Ward
© Tony Wood and Mid-Hants Railway Ltd
