Amerton Gala 2022
Small South Staffs Steamers
© Geoff’s Rail Diaries 2022
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
26 June 2022
the original Kerr Stuart design. Lastly, there’s 105-year-
old visitor Diana - a single side-tank (a Kerr Stuart
‘Sirdar’) amongst half-a-dozen saddle tanks.
Unlike the locomotives, which appeared to be on best
behaviour, the weather wasn’t quite so cooperative -
it’s windy (no video today) but sunny, with passing
clouds timing themselves to coincide with passing
trains.
We can’t stay forever, but before we head for home, one of
us will feel the need to visit the farm shop for goodies to take
home with us. We like Amerton…
Link: Amerton Railway
An afternoon at Amerton should be appropriately
alliterative - and good fun too! With seven steam
locomotives in action (and a Motor-Rail chugging about
in the sidings), there should be plenty to see. There are
two freights, running anti-clockwise, and a clockwise
passenger train. They pass at the main Amerton station
and at Chartley loop, and the service is just about as
intensive as it can be, given the need to change
locomotives occasionally.
I should be more specific: 2022 marks the 125th birthday of
Isabel, centrepiece of the Amerton fleet. Of the others,
visiting Peter Pan and resident Lorna Doone are 100 this year.
That’s one Bagnall and two Kerr Stuart ‘Wrens’; also visiting
are Bagnall Woto (a mere 98!) and Wren Roger (104).
Resident Jennie is just 15 years old, a ‘new-build’ Wren to
