Leighton Buzzard Railway in Bedfordshire has declared that September on the railway was a resounding success after hosting three very popular events.

The month’s events kicked off with Dinosaurs Day on Sunday, 3rd September when the railway carried over 600 guests to mix with the dinosaurs at Stonehenge Works.

Two weeks later, over the weekend of Saturday, 16th and Sunday, 17th September, it was the turn of the ‘Anything Goes’ gala, when a total of six locomotives operated the trains over the weekend. A special occasion during the weekend was the return to service after eleven years of Motor Rail/Simplex 60S-class 4-wheel diesel mechanical locomotive.

September’s final special event was held on Sunday, 24th September when over 700 bikes were present at this year’s popular Sand and Motorcycles event.

Trains will continue to operate every Sunday until the end of October, including during the school half-term holidays on Wednesday, 25th and Thursday, 26th.

There will be no trains during November, but the railway re-opens again on Saturday, 2nd December, with its ever-popular Santa Steam Specials. However, early bookings are recommended for these tickets are selling fast, and the expectation is that there will only be very limited or no availability for anyone wishing to turn up and book on the day. Tickets can be booked online at www.buzzrail.uk.

The railway is based at Page’s Park in Leighton Buzzard and runs to Stonehenge Works, which is next to the sand quarries that the railway was originally built to serve. Nowadays, the Leighton Buzzard Railway is an accredited museum whose is history linked with the sand quarrying industry around the town.

As well as equipment from its industrial era, it has acquired a significant collection of World War I vintage narrow-gauge equipment. At one time it had on loan from the National Railway Museum ‘protected’ type Simplex No. 3098 (MR1377/1918), and it is also the base for the Greensand Railway Museum Trust’s Baldwin 4-6-0T War Department Light Railway (WDLR) No. 778.