£47K GRANT WILL BE A BIG BOOST FOR LEIGHTON BUZZARD EXTENSION

The Leighton Buzzard Railway’s long-awaited Double Arches extension project has been given a boost, thanks to a £47,000 grant from the LEADER fund. Work has already begun on clearing the trackbed on the ¾-mile extension, the plans for which were first revealed in July as part of the LBR’s 50th anniversary celebrations (see SR469). £34,000 of the grant will go towards the estimated £150,000 cost of the project, with the remainder being used to build a new coach and make improvements to the facilities at Stonehenge works. LBR Chairman Terry Bendall says: “The money we have raised has achieved two things. Firstly, it has delivered the matched funding required under the LEADER rules. Secondly, it has enabled us to commit to buying the track we need to acquire to reach the immediate goal of the top of Mundays Hill, some 140 metres from Eastern Way.” In addition to the £57,000 raised by the LBR towards the project, the grant means the railway has £91,000 in hand to complete the extension, which will make the LBR 3¾ miles in length. Once opened, the extension will feature a 1-in-27 gradient and a rare section of narrow gauge double track, with trains first running over part of the long-disused section at the ‘50 Not Out’ gala on September 30-October 1. Elsewhere, the LBR has agreed a 250-year lease for the whole of the line with Arnold White Estates, which owns the local sand quarries and much of the land over which the railway runs. The partnership has also resulted in an immediate cash injection for the railway, and the promise of additional investment as and when the quarries are worked out and redeveloped. LBR executive committee member Nick Burton said: “The new lease with AWE has secured the offer of the LEADER funding, while the generosity of our members has ensured that we can deliver our side of the financial commitment. “We still have a lot of work to do to raise the balance of the funds we require, but we can now start work with enthusiasm for what the future holds for us.” To help raise the remaining £59,000 to complete the Double Arches project, you can donate online at or you can send a cheque, payable to the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway Society, to Pages Park Station, Billington Road, Leighton Buzzard LU7 4TG.

THOMAS BRIGHT/SR With the extension to Double Arches in the background, visiting new-build Kerr Stuart ‘Wren’ 0-4-0ST Jennie backs a demonstration timber train into Stonehenge station. It is top-and-tailed by fellow visitor Andrew Barclay 0-4-0T Jack at the LBR’s ‘50...