October 2026 Newsletter

Your Invitation To Volunteer

With the busiest running period of the year during the summer holidays coming to an end, there remains a lot of work for our volunteers to keep the railway running throughout the autumn, winter and into 2027. From maintaining our Permanent Way to keeping our points switching with S&T; maintaining our diesel fleet or keeping the wheels on our steam loco’s spinning smoothly; painting our carriages or painting railings at Mill’s Wood: there is plenty for everyone to get involved with.

And, of course, there is still ample running scheduled in the rest of the year for those who are keen to learn the ropes of guarding a passenger train or work towards getting hands-on in the driver’s seat.

One of the great things about the OKLR, is you don’t have to choose. New volunteers are encouraged to help out across the full spectrum of roles required to keep the railway running smoothly.

So, whether you’re an experienced hand on the railway or have never held a hammer; we happily welcome any new volunteers into the OKLR community who arrive with enthusiasm.

If you’re interested in finding out more about volunteering, head over to our volunteering page where you can find our contact details to take your first step towards becoming a volunteer.

Summer Running on Railway Wednesday’s

Throughout the school holiday's, the OKLR runs an additional service on Wednesday's, entertaining and educating the next generation throughout August - and giving parents a much needed day-out during the summer holidays. This year was no exception and the railway proved a popular activity for families visiting the museum.

The intention had been to provide a steam service for the Wednesday’s as an additional attraction for the visiting public and to offer some welcome opportunities for our volunteers to get hands-on with our two steam locomotives as well as a chance to train-up our array of newer volunteers. Unfortunately, the unrelenting dry weather and associated steam-ban thwarted these plans. 

Always keen to observe the positives of the situation, a plan was hatched to employ a range of locomotives with Hunslets No. 36 and No. 37, and MR 8981 and the newly restored MR 7902 “Amey” assisting with operations throughout the month. As well as providing variation for our passengers, the selection of locomotives also offered opportunities for our experienced and trainee drivers to learn the ropes on new machinery supporting our operational capability and flexibility.

Our volunteers were also pleased to recognise repeated visitors across the month with a special mention to one future “volunteer in the making” who could be found assisting our guards from the platform at Mills Wood every Wednesday.

Overall, the Railway Wednesday’s proved once again successful and popular with nearly every train full to capacity. A big thank you to all our volunteers who gave up their time, taking advantage of volunteering leave or using annual leave to ensure the OKLR could welcome passengers and entertain families throughout the summer holidays.

Our final Railway Wednesday’s of 2026 are scheduled for the 21st and 28th of October and whether you’re a keen railway enthusiast, mad about history, or just a parent looking for half-term activities, we look forward to welcoming you to the OKLR.

Upcoming Events

While the summer running season is coming to a close, the OKLR continues to provide a selection of running days through autumn and in the build-up to Christmas. As well as selected regular operating weekends, the railway will also be supporting the following events at the RLLM with a full timetable:

• October - Military and Commercial Vehicles.
• November - Winter Craft and Vintage Fair.
• December - Santa Specials (these are available by pre-booking only).

For more details on these and other events, please refer to the RLLM website: https://rural-life.org.uk/whats-on.

The full range of OKLR running dates for the rest of 2026 can be found at https://oklr.org/visit-us. 

Following the disappointing cancellation of this year’s Steam At Work event due to the dry weather, a Steam Rally has been scheduled for earlier in 2027 across the 29th, 30th and 31st May bank holiday weekend. 

9655 Simplex “Bluey” - Alex H.

Motor Rail 9655 has recently been undertaking test runs following the completion of its restoration.

9655 on a test run at Mill’s Wood. Photo: Alex Holt.

9655 has been undergoing a major rebuild in our workshops over the last 4 years. The restoration has seen almost everything on the locomotive repaired or replaced.

When 9655 arrived it had no wheels, so new axles and wheels had to be sourced. A complete overhaul of all the running gear was also carried out, including fitment of new axle bearings and lubrication pads.

The gearbox had major wear to the output shaft repaired, and new bearings, seals, selector shafts, selector forks, gear levers, and gear linkages fitted.

All components in the clutch have been replaced due to their condition, including the replacement of a warped clutch plate.

The engine has received major attention and has been the focus for most of the restoration. At several points during the rebuild it was thought to be in too poor of a condition to recover, and engine swapping it for a Perkins or Deutz engine was explored. There would be far too much to list with what has been done to the engine. It’s been stripped right down to its component form, and most, if not all, of the parts have received attention. Cracked castings have also been repaired.  

9655 ran for the first time on 14^th August 2026. It has been undergone various tests and adjustments since then to make sure everything is performing as it should and has now been passed for service and is expected to make it's first appearance on public services on 17^th October the day after it's 75th anniversary.

Two pictures of 9655 on loading tests and school trip services. Photos: Alex Holt.

Steam Department Update - Alex F.

We had been looking forward to a busy summer of steam, including our annual Steam at Work gala, but sadly the weather didn’t cooperate. After an extended hot and dry spell a site-wide fire ban was put in place and we had to take the only responsible course of action which was to cancel the event and run diesel traction until conditions improved. The slightly damper weather through September has provided us with an opportunity to utilise Elouise on public services towards the end of the month. We hope see Elouise and Emmet on more services during October before the Santa Specials in December.

Emmet in front of the shed being cleaned with Elouise behind. Photo: Alex Forshaw.

9998 Elouise

We put Elouise through a couple of steam tests as we attempted to fix a leak from her steam manifold shutoff valve. This proved to be a challenging repair job as we tried to lap in the valve without success: each time it would fail to seat cleanly when we steam tested it. In the end we discovered that the valve spindle was misaligned which was addressed by machining the part, following which we returned the loco to the operational list.

The troublesome manifold valve being worked on. Photos: Alex Forshaw.

20 Emmet

Emmet hadn’t been steaming well during Village at War in May so before she was due to run again we took the opportunity to see what might have caused the problem. An examination of the smokebox revealed that the tubes were half full of soot, the spark arrester was clogged, and there was a large deposit of oily soot caked on the inside of the chimney. A thorough clean had her back in shape and ready to run during the Fire Engine Rally in July, where she performed well despite poor coal. In contrast to her previous operating weekend, this time the crews didn’t have to stop halfway to blow up (build up steam pressure). 

Emmet runs around at Mills Wood during the Fire Engine weekend. Photo: Alex Forshaw.

Following this we put her over the pit to work on reducing the gaps around her rear ashpan door to improve its fit and reduce the risk of dropping burning embers along the line. We also took the opportunity to replace her safety valves; the old ones had started to stick and would no longer lift reliably so their replacement had been advised by the boiler inspector. We also replaced a worn ball valve and steam tested her, getting her fit to run in time for her to travel down to the Great Bush Railway at Tinkers Park for their annual gala. A number of OKLR volunteers made the journey to see Emmet and help operate trains that weekend: it was lovely to see her steam on different steels, and I worked a turn as fireman myself.

Fitting the new safety valves. Photo: Alex Forshaw.

Emmet at Great Bush Railway. Photo: Ruth Mills.

When I’m painting railings at the Old Kiln Light Railway - Tim L.

Railways, even small ones, require a lot of work to keep them both operational and presentable. As well the obvious items such as locomotives, rolling stock and trackwork: there’s also the buildings and other general infrastructure, and it all needs to be looked after. The terminus station at Mills Wood, the start of most journeys on the OKLR, is the railways “front of house” and the first impression of the railway for our passengers. So, it’s important that the station is kept in good order and cared for just as well as any locomotive.

I had noticed the railings leading to the platform were looking rather tired and well-worn. I thought something needed to be done, so I started a little project spending a couple of very pleasant days treating them, as well as the traditional wooden benches on the platforms for good measure, to a coat of shining new green paint.

The railing at Mills Wood station before and after receiving a coat of fresh paint. Photo: Tim Long.

It wasn’t just me doing this, as I was able to persuade my family to assist with this little non-technical job which was a great way to spend time outdoors achieving something worthwhile together.  

Mills Wood is a lovely spot surrounded by trees to give shade and makes for a very calming and relaxed place to be which is excellent for stress relief, mental health, and wellbeing too!

If you are considering getting involved with our lovely little railway there are plenty of jobs like this that can be done without needing to have lots of practical engineering skills and experience (I certainly don’t!). I have found these sorts of jobs to be very rewarding and give a great sense of satisfaction.

The OKLR synchronised bench painting duo in training at Mills Wood. Photo: Tim Long.