When it comes to cuteness the Sherwood Forest Railway wins hands down! It’s a whole world of steam all in miniature at this delightful family-owned railway that runs along the edge of the former Sherwood Forest farm park area – and this experience will see you getting to drive one of the steam locos.
The SFR (as the Sherwood Forest Railway is know to locals and fans!) is Nottinghamshire’s only 15″ railway. Rolling on this narrow gauge track are 5/8th scale locomotives with both diesel and steam powered versions along with a fine collection of bright and shiny passenger carriages. For this experience you will be driving one of the lovely steam trains.
The family who operates this charming railway originally bought steam locos Smokey Joe and Pet back in 1998 but it wasn’t until 2000 that they had found the perfect location on the edge of Sherwood Forest to build their railway track. Each year the line is extended and now stands at one mile complete with two level crossings a tunnel and two stations at Loxley and Welldale. There’s even another steam loco (Doodlebug) coming onboard to join the original duo.
You might think that these small yet perfectly formed trains and carriages are for leisure use only but in fact back in the 19th and early 20th century narrow gauge set ups were used to help construct railways roads and waterways. The layout of this Sherwood-based railway is in former flood dykes used to irrigate the fields surrounded by forest and woodland and makes good use of the original cuttings and straight lines!
On your very special Sherwood Forest Railway experience you will be a VIP guest at this wonderful attraction. After a safety briefing you will shown how to fire up the steam loco as you head off for a full return trip along the line with you on the footplate doing all the hard work! Brilliant fun and a fantastic atmosphere at this mini-scale steam railway.
