How we built the Watercress Line

At our meeting on 23rd September at our normal location and on Zoom, the guest speaker, Keith Brown, gave a very informative talk, aided by slides, entitled “How We Built The Watercress Line”. This was formerly known as the Mid-Hants Railway.

The line opened in 1865 with trains being operated by the London & South Western Railway which eventually purchased the Mid-Hants Railway Company in 1884.

Very much a secondary route, the line declined during the inter-war and post-war periods of the 20th century with the development of motorised transport, the closure of two local interconnecting railways and the electrification of the line from London to Alton in 1937, which meant the Watercress Line was no longer a through route to Southampton. Having survived Beeching, the line was eventually closed in February 1973.

The section of the line that can be seen today was purchased from British Rail in November 1975. Capital needed to be raised, locomotives and rolling stock purchased and the line needed to be re-laid with stations needing rebuilding or enhancing. All this took a great deal of money, time, effort and expertise. Consequently the line could only be re-opened in stages. The first section between Alresford and Ropley re-opened in 1977, the second section from Ropley to Medstead and Four Marks re-opened in 1983 and the final section to Alton re-opened in 1985.

Various structures were purchased from locations across the South of England including a water tank, a water tower, signal boxes and a footbridge which were re-built or re-sited along the line making the line serviceable and creating the feeling of a fully operational steam railway. The line is now maintained by paid staff and over 400 volunteers.

 Any number of locomotives were purchased and it was soon found that they had to be man enough for the job, owing to the steep terrain of part of the route including what is fondly known as the Alps.

The railway is still developing, with improvements being made and plans for an exciting future.

Bob Horner