Bagnall Bank Holiday Event
Building on their partnership agreement signed in 2025, the Apedale Valley Light Railway, the West Lancashire Light Railway and Amerton Railway are delighted to announce their first jointly-organised event.
All three railways have steam locomotives built by the company W.G.Bagnall of Stafford – and it will be possible to travel behind them at each of the railways over the Spring Bank Holiday – May 23rd, 24th and 25th 2026.
A joint ticket will allow all-day travel on each of the railways during their operating hours. Priced at just £10 for adults and £3 for children, the tickets can be bought at any of the three railways and then used on the other two railways at any point over the bank holiday weekend. Tickets can also be bought in advance on-line from here.
It will, of course, always be possible to visit just one or two of the railways and buy tickets at the normal prices.
During the weekend Apedale will operate their 1924-built Bagnall “WOTO”. “Sybil”, built in 1906, will be operating at the West Lancashire Light Railway’s site at Hesketh Bank. Finally, the oldest of them all – “Isabel”, dating back to 1897 – will be running at Amerton Railway.
All three locos came from the same factory, and all three are to the same basic design. But there are significant differences between them, showing how the design evolved and modernised over the years.
On behalf of the three railways, Simon Lomax (interim chair of the Moseley Railway Trust, operator of the Apedale Valley Light Railway) said
“This jointly-organised event is another step in drawing our three little railways closer together. We look forward to seeing how many visitors manage to ride behind all three Bagnalls during the bank holiday weekend!”
The West Lancashire Light Railway is a 2’0” gauge railway operating at Hesketh Bank, located between Preston and Southport (PR4 6SP). Amerton Railway is located near to Stafford (ST18 0LA), and is owned and operated by Staffordshire Narrow Gauge Railway Limited. The Apedale Valley Light Railway, located near Newcastle-under-Lyme (ST5 7LB), is owned and operated by the Moseley Railway Trust.