Gartell Light Railway

Photos of the Gartell Light Railway at Templcombe in Somerset now added to Gartell Light Railway

 

Just came across this on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/gartell/permalink/10163199138142615/

 

Sad announcement on FB, "Open Day on 26th October 2026 will be the last for the Gartell Light Railway."
"We do intend to keep things operational for a while for special events, just to keep the railway alive a little longer, without the commitment of regular open days."

 

I'd heard from relatives who live nearby and know some of the people involved in the line that this might be on the cards, but they're surprised it's happening as soon as the end of the current season.

I grew up very close to the line and one day in the early 90s Dad and I wandered out to the Gartell premises just to see what we could see of the early iteration of the line (in those days Dad was quite gung ho about turning up to places unannounced - and sometimes about borderline trespass!). One of the Gartell family saw us looking around and was happy to stop work, get one of the Lister diesels that along with the original No.1 Amanda were staples of services then out with a rake of coaches and give us a private trip to Park Lane and back and chat to us about what they were creating!

I think after that we went to pretty much every running day across 1992-94, long before steam or the Tower View extension were part of it. I've made a couple of visits since getting back into railways as an adult in the 2010s and been impressed with how it had developed without losing its charm and welcoming atmosphere.

We will absolutely be at that final running day in October. The Gartell family created something very special on their bit of the S&D, and it will be missed.