9 Aug 09 - Pentney Park Railway

Pentney Park is a holiday campsite, roughly halfway between King's Lynn and Swaffham on the A47. I've driven past there dozens of times and never suspected that a little gem of a railway was hidden within....welcome to the Pentney Park Railway (PPR)....

The PPR is an elusive little devil. This weekend was the only weekend of the entire year in which trains would be running on its narrow tracks. Information is scarce about the PPR and we consider ourselves fortunate to have written to them a while ago, and received a reply, with details of this weekend's opening, last week (thanks to Bryan Webster).

I'm not sure if any trains or engines are housed permanently at Pentney. Their engine shed is roomy enough, but it seems that members of the engine-owning fraternity gather on rare occasions and bring their pride and joys with them. I had a particularly long and enjoyable chat with some chaps from the Evergreens Miniature Railway, which is located in Stickney, near Boston in Lincolnshire. We were even invited to visit them as special guests, an offer which we shall definitely take up. You can check their railway out at their website:

http://www.steamingalan.webs.com/

Today there were about six or seven engines of various sizes and types all taking turns to haul passengers around the track. It's rather incongruous to be chuffing through a campsite, past people snoozing in deckchairs or wringing out their smalls to hang on the washing line! The track is quite long, I'd guess maybe a kilometre in total, and includes a small bridge which marks the start of the loop at the furthest point from the station.

This really was great fun! The drivers have several engines out on the track at any one time, which means you're often involved in what seems like a chase. The cost was a mere £1 per person per ride, which is all donated to charity after the weekend.

We'd highly recommend keeping an eye out for the next time the PPR is in operation - we'll be going back and we hope we'll see you there!