West Lancs Railway on track for future plans

WEST Lancs Light Railway has revealed its plans for the future now that it has successfully secured its own land.

After raising the £260,000 required for its land purchase through a combination of donations and loans, the organisation was able to buy its existing site from its previous landlord, Henry Alty investments.

It will still need to repay the loans however and also needs further funds for facility improvements for visitors.

The volunteer-run attraction is based in Hesketh Bank and features a gauge passenger line which operates with locomotives, wagons and other equipment from long-gone industrial sites in Lancashire, around the UK and overseas.

Speaking on behalf of West Lancs Light Railway, Roy Evans said: “Now we’ve completed the purchase, it’s great because we can make long terms plans and not worry it might be taken off us in a few years.

“The first basic step was getting the land so now it’s time to develop and expand!”

The light railway wants to invest for future generations and build a 30-person classroom to educate children about narrow gauge railways and the industry in general.

It also hopes to educate its visitors with a museum dedicated to its history.

Roy said: “We’d like to invite schools to come in and work with the community. In order to do all this we need proper facilities such as a cafe and a toilet block.

“We do have a burger van that we wheel out but we’d obviously need a lot more than that for our plans!”

The site also wants to physically expand with a half a mile extension to the River Douglas and a new footpath to access the site.

Roy said: “We’d like to take visitors down to the River Douglas so they can spend time at the Marine and then bring them back again.

“It would be great for people to hire out the railway too! The more visitors we are hoping to attract however, the more we will need presentable buildings and a bigger car park. We are planning on building a new 57-vehicle car park.”

The vounteers have nearly finished building a new coach with two carriages from a train from Southport Pier and a carriage for people with disabilities or walking difficulties.

Roy said: “It’s seems a shame that anyone with disabilities should miss out so we’re building a carriage where you can easily roll a wheelchair on.

“We’re always looking for more volunteers for all different aspects from administration to retail to publicity.

“We’re going to offer more volunteer experience days where people can come to look at the railway and go in the engineering shop.

“We’re always on the lookout for new candidates to become drivers also. We welcome ladies too so any female engineers or drivers out there, please come and have a look.”

The expectations for the site will roughly take around five years.

Upcoming events include a Hallowe’en event and the Santa Specials in December.

To find out more about the West Lancs Railway and to donate, please visit westlancsrailway.org or visit its Facebook page.