Crofton Beam Engines Celebrates Season Finale, celbrating Railway 200 and welcomes traction engines back to Crofton.

About

In 2025, Railway 200 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the modern railway – a once in a generation opportunity to explore rail's crucial role in national life. To mark Railway 200 and our small part in the history of the railways we will have an exhibition of all things GWR at Crofton, including displays of GWR artefacts, images and a chronicled timeline of our link with the railways. Get a glimpse of our relationship with the railway engineering shop at Swindon, and how Crofton provided light relief for the Swindon apprentices. Learn about GWR's involvement, from keeping the station open to supplying Crofton with a small saddle tank engine (probably an engine called Prince) to keep the pumps going when our engines failed. Our knowledgeable volunteers will demonstrate some of the GWR tools still in use to this day, as they stoke our boiler and drive our engines so that visitors can experience the power of steam in action.

Crofton Pumping Station was originally built to raise water for the Kennet and Avon Canal. For well over 200 years, it has carried out this work. Perhaps surprisingly, for 98 years of its life, Crofton was owned by the Great Western Railway. As well as Crofton pumping water for the canal during this time, it also supplied water to GWR railway locomotives. The contract that GWR signed was to provide water to the K&A Canal "in perpetuity". Indeed, if it were not for our relationship with GWR, Crofton would probably not have survived at all. To celebrate this long relationship with the railways, Crofton's mighty Beam Engines will be in steam on the Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th of September

Showmans tractors return to Crofton: Verity and Margaret, two fine showmans tractors will be visiting Crofton at the weekend to help us celebrate our last steaming for the summer season. After a pause of several years, we are pleased to welcome these lovely engines and their crews back to Crofton.

Music on site: Geoff Roberts and Neil Mercer will be joining us on Saturday the 27th to entertain us with some of their wonderful folk music renditions. They will play a number of sets during the day.

Fun for all the family: Children's activities will include a special trail guiding them round our station, seeking out our GWR tools, as well as a crafting area for children to be able use their imagination to describe, draw and even have a go at junk modelling a train. Crofton sits on a curve on the main Paddington to Penzance route via Newbury and Westbury, commuter trains pass by regularly, catch a glimpse of them as they rush along. You will know they are coming, as they all whistle at Crofton.

Crofton Beam Engines will be open and steaming for the on the Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th. Opening times on both days: car park 10:00 to 17:00, grounds 10:00 to 16:30, with access to the Engine House from 10:30 to 16:30.

You can visit Crofton by road or via the canal. We have a pay car park or walk or cycle along the canal towpath and join us via the canal tunnel.