Leighton Buzzard Railway (LBR) in Bedfordshire has announced that its General Manager Joe Horsley has died after a short illness.

Joe had been the Railway’s General Manager since 1984. He joined the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway Society in 1974 and was Publicity Officer from 1977.

In a statement, the Society’s Chair, David Wood, described Joe’s “remarkable demonstration of commitment to our Railway”.

During his many decades in the post, Joe took responsibility for the safety and overall operation of the Railway, and also worked rostered turns as Duty Operations Manager and Guard. Mondays would usually see him out with the Permanent Way gang.

As well as his voluntary role at LBR, Joe was a railway professional and had spent time working for Network Rail and South West Trains. He then became a management consultant, offering advice to railway operators.

David writes that Joe’s “knowledge and wise counsel will be missed by everyone at Leighton Buzzard Railway”, and on LBR’s sympathies to Joe’s wife, Caroline, and their family.

LBR is based at Page’s Park, Leighton Buzzard. Its line runs for nearly three miles to Stonehenge Works, next to the sand quarries which the Railway was built to serve. LBR preserves equipment from the sand quarrying industry and also has a significant collection of Great War vintage narrow gauge equipment.

The National Railway Museum previously placed its ‘protected’ type Simplex No. 3098 (MR1377/1918) on loan to LBR, which is also the base for the Greensand Railway Museum Trust’s Baldwin 4-6-0T WDLR No. 778.

Further information is available from its website.