The Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, Suffolk's only standard gauge preserved railway, is offering visitors an additional attraction to steam train rides on New Year's Day when the Historical Lighting Society will be holding a Steam & Light Festival, which is an exhibition of vintage oil lamps.
The exhibition will be held in the railway's Restoration Shed, which is the perfect setting for the historical collections. Many of the oil lamps date from mid-Victorian times, and besides originally being used in all sorts of settings, from lowly workplaces to grand houses many are works of art in their own right.
Visitors will be able to ride the trains as often as they like, and their experience will match the exhibition of vintage oil lamps as they take a trip in genuine Great Eastern Railway Victorian four-wheel carriages.
Trains will hauled by a special guest loco, 99-year-old Peckett 0-4-0 steam locomotive Marcia, which is on loan from the Kent & East Sussex Railway, which will be on duty topping and tailing passenger trains with one of the Mid-Suffolk's own diesel engines. Marcia weighs just 12 tons, has 2 feet 3 inches-diameter driving wheels, outside cylinders, and looks like a narrow gauge locomotive.
As well as the oil lamps exhibition and train rides, visitors can enjoy the unique atmosphere created in the award-winning railway museum, and enjoy tasty New Year treats and beverages in the Tea Room.
There is no need to book tickets in advance as they are available from the Middy Shop on arrival. Further information about the New Year's Day events can be found online at www.mslr.org.uk. Larger parties of visitors should send an email to events@mslr.org.uk
The Mid-Suffolk Light Railway is located at Brockford Station in Wetheringsett near Stowmarket in Suffolk, IP14 5PW. The museum and station are both just off the A140 road between Ipswich and Norwich.
