RANG Railway at CROSSNESS ENGINES TRUST

RANG Railway needs your help - an update (January 2023) 

RANG Railway are proud to announce repairs to Bazalgette, our locomotive, have been successfully completed, exactly 1 year after it was necessary to suspend operations due to mechanical problems. 

The incredible efforts from our RANG volunteers made it possible to run the train on the 11th December 2022 Open Day to the enjoyment of the Crossness visitors and earlier than we originally expected,  A train ride is always a good start to a  Crossness visit especially on a cold, icy, winters day.  

When we embarked on our fund raising “journey” we set a target of £10,000 based on the expert advice given to us and the initial repair estimates we received.  

We are proud that we have managed to facilitate repairs for less than originally forecast by negotiating reduced prices with suppliers for the necessary parts required. We have also received fantastic support from Fuel Oils of Slade Green a company that supplied us with hydraulic oil, engine oil and anti freeze at no cost. 

We will be undertaking additional loco “stress testing” to make sure the train is working as we want so we can give our visitors their train ride on the next Crossness Open Day, 12th March 2023. 

As you can imagine a year not being able to operate the train has created other fresh issues. The more important safety matters have already been addressed but there are others such as buying and laying more ballast, improving the pedestrian surface on both platforms, tending to the ever present problem of over grown vegetation that needs resolving before March simply to make the experience that much more memorable. We need to use the surplus funds already raised to get to grips with issues such as these. 

In the circumstances we have decided our original ambition to put any unspent donations towards a 2nd Electric loco needs to be mothballed. Nonetheless our longer term goal is to raise funds to secure an electric loco to share the workload with Bazalgette.

We’ve received excellent comments from some of our donating supporters wishing us every success, willing us to get “moving in the right direction” so we sincerely hope everybody will agree with this way forward. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts.

Our RANG campaign page is still active so if you or anyone you know wishes to donate please give them the link:- https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/rangrailway Your donation will help the railway survive and develop.  

If you want any further information about our history, our projects, our plans for the future please email:-  [email protected] and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Regardless whether you donate please come ride with us and chat with our RANG volunteers. Maybe you’d like to volunteer? To find out what 2023 dates we are open to visitors please take a look at the Crossness web site – www.crossness.org.uk 

RANG RAILWAY needs your help

Royal Arsenal Narrow Gauge (RANG) railway at Crossness Engines Trust, Abbeywood, London has suffered a major mechanical problem with the locomotive Bazalgette which has brought operations to a halt for the foreseeable future. 

We urgently need to raise £10,000 to pay for the repair of both the front and rear hydraulic drive motors and overhaul of the primary pump so we can get “back on track”.

The loco, a Severn-Lamb diesel powered unit, came into service in 1986 at the Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival and moved to Bygones Village Museum Fleggburgh Norfolk in 1988. In 2003 the loco and 3 carriages were put into storage until 2017 when it was purchased by Crossness Engines and RANG railway transformed from an idea into reality.

The railway transports visitors to and from the historic Crossness Pumping Station (www.crossness.org.uk) on Open Days. The train ride has become a “little gem” in Abbeywood with many compliments from passengers and their amazement that a train track such as this exists on their doorstep right beside the River Thames.

Busy Basil, the locos original name, was in a dilapidated state when it arrived in November 2017 but, after many hours of preparation and restoration by a group of dedicated volunteers, its look was transformed.

It was renamed Bazalgette in March 2019 after Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the civil engineer, who led the construction of the London sewer system. 

Track laying started in December 2018 and the line was completed in November 2021 despite volunteers enforced absence from site in 2020.

The 2 restored carriages were transformed from this - 

to this 

and this

We now desperately need your help to ensure the 4+ years the enthusiastic volunteers have spent restoring and constructing have not been in vain.

Please give generously to the RANG Railway Crowdfunding appeal to get us up and running again and in so doing enhance the visitor experience to Crossness Engines and provide a legacy for future generations. Your donation will help the railway survive and in turn helps preserve this important historic site.

If you do decide to donate it would be beneficial if you are able to gift aid your donation which would allow us to claim back 25% of the amount from HMRC. Moreover, we would also ask you to email us at [email protected] as we’d really like to send a personal thank you from the team.

Regardless of whether you can or can’t afford to help out it would be very valuable to us if you could send this message and our Crowdfunding link onto your friends.

If we are able to raise more than our target it would give RANG railway a chance to possible purchase a 2nd electric loco which would spread the workload as well as being more environmentally responsible. 

If you would like any further information before deciding to contribute just email RANG at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Regardless whether you donate or not when we are operational please come ride with us and chat with our RANG volunteers. Maybe you’d like to join us?

View from the footplate

Many thanks

Our RANG Volunteers

Donations rewards

- £20 or more - Bazalgette loco magnet
- £50 or more – Footplate ride for 1 and Crossness/Bazalgette loco key ring
- £100 or more - 2 tickets to visit Crossness Engines on an Open Day of your choice
- £250 or more - Your name on a plaque to be displayed in the RANG engine shed
- £500 or more – Footplate ride for 1 and personal guided tour of historic Crossness Pumping station for 2 people by one of our knowledgeable Crossness guides.
- £1500 or more - Drive the loco and enjoy a personal guided tour for 4 people of historic Crossness Pumping station by one of our expert guides and finish with tea/coffee and biscuits.
- £3000 or more – Unique opportunity to operate Prince Consort the largest rotative beam engine in the world as soon as the building structural issues are resolved and on a non public entry day enjoy a guided tour for 6 people from one of our specialist guides including afternoon tea & scones.
- £5000 or more - Name one of the stations and take a guided tour for 6 on a non public day with one of our first-class guides concluding with cream tea. Platform names suggestions have to be judicious. (RANG will vet all proposals)