Pet Friendly Heritage Railways

Hi Everyone

How many of the Heritage Railways are pet friendly please? All of them?

maps4pets

 

Llangollen Railway, (Taken on the footbridge)
She also rode every day for the entire SSSII Gala in the Thompson Buffet

 

Depends what you mean by "pets" and "friendly". The West Somerset Railway allow dogs on normal service trains - it's £2 for a Dog Day Rover although "assistance dogs" go free. Other types of pets/animals do not seem to figure in the WSR's conditions of carriage. Perhaps it's worked out on an individual basis - I can think of at least two occasions that a horse was carried from one end of the line to the other on a service train. I'm sure the WSR would consider carrying any animal! As far as I know there are no facilities for pets at stations (other than a bowl of water for dogs at some stations). Hope this helps.

Steve
(WSW)

 

A horse, now that's cool!
What did they use to transport it?

 

Most Heritage railways I've been on seem to leave out bowls of water for dogs, particularly where they also have 'watering places' for the human visitor.

Regards,
John Webb

 

Heaton Park Tramway carry dogs free of charge, and the surrounding park is a popular area for dog walking.

 

The 4 heritage lines I usually visit; SVR, ELR, KWVR and GCR and including Llangollen are all pet friendly and I think they can travel on the trains for a small fare!

 

A Mk1 Brake.

Steve
(WSW)

 

I have taken our dog on many railways across the country (South Devon, Lynton & Barnstable, Swanage, Isle of Wight, Mid Hants, Bluebell, Spa Valley, Romney Hythe, Sittingbourne, North Norfolk, Nene Valley, Great Central Loughbourgh & Nottingham, Peak, East Lanc, Embsay & Bolton, Wensleydale, North York Moors, Ravenglass, Strathspey, Teifi, & Isle of Man.
Our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is well travelled by steam. Her favourite is Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway as she can sit on the floor and stick her nose out the door opening and see and smell everything going passed.
She is always welcomed and as mentioned above there is usually water available or if not someone will find some for us. Cost is usually free but some railways charge 50p or 1 pound for a ride. The only places out of bounds are the station cafe's and some coaches that sell food. It is really great to be able to take our pooch with us on these types of rides. Long may it continue. She has also been on a few Cathedrals Express trains, only reccomended if you have a small dog though.

 

The ex Furness Railway and LMS 'steamers' on Lake Windermere welcome 'well behaved dogs' at no charge and had water bowls on deck when I visited last Saturday

My labrador loved it.

 

Only visited one railway to date that wasn't "pet friendly." A few years ago I arrived at the Colne Valley Railway and they refused me entry with my dog. The reason given was that a stray had startled a passenger some time earlier and thus no dogs were welcome, not even on a lead. Never been back since.

 

Hi Spamcan, I've been volunteering at the CVR for some time now and the reason that I've always been told we are unable to allow dogs is because of the adjoining farm park. It's owned by a local farmer who doesn't want dogs near his animals after some of his sheep were 'worried' a few years back. The trouble is it's hard to let people bring their dogs just to the railway, and then stop them from taking them into the farm park. As always it's the minority who let their pets run wild that spoils it for everyone else which, as a dog owner myself, pees me off as much as the next responsible dog owner!

I've never heard the 'dog startled passenger' excuse... I'm not disputing for a minute that this is what you were told but I can see why that would seem unreasonable - it's a tenuous excuse to say the least!

 

Damien,
Thanks for this. It was back between 1998 and 2003 when the incident happened. Was the farm park there then? I'd have been much happier if a "no dogs allowed" sign, plus explanation, was displayed prominently. Saves a lot of argument.

Rgds
Ian

 

Ah - before my time I'm afraid, but I'm pretty sure the farm park was there back then. Quite agree about a sign, I'll pass the suggestion on to the powers that be - as I'm sure you can appreciate this isn't the first time the issue has raised its head!

 

Thanks for your feedback. Regarding signs and going a bit o/t, went into a pub near Shackerstone several years ago. On the door was a sign saying "no prams, no pushchairs, no children etc." but no mention of dogs. Went in with my pooch and ordered a pint only to be told "sorry mate, no dogs." :mmph:

 

The only place I was told I could not enter with my dog was The National Railroad Museum in York. I guess the same is for Shildon as they are public museums.

 

Now, please don't get angry about what I'm about to write, because I'm not anti pet or a dog hater or anything like that. However, having been attacked by a dog when I was a toddler, I am genuinely terrified of dogs. The vast majority of dog owners are considerate and kind, but some are shall we say, unwittingly inconsiderate. Please keep dogs under control and don't assume that everyone is happy to be sniffed, licked and generally covered in dog snot!

 

I feel much the same way about kids.

 

the dogs are clearly the etc.

 

The East Lancs is certainly pet friendly as regards dogs - but don't try bringing any snakes on board when I'm on duty!

Mike