Description
Foxfield Steam Railway is a charming heritage railway located in Staffordshire, offering visitors a nostalgic journey through the countryside. Run by a dedicated volunteer team, it features beautifully restored steam and diesel locomotives and historic carriages. Whether you’re visiting for a relaxing train ride, a special event or a unique experience day, Foxfield delivers a true step back in time.
Visitors can enjoy a 50-minute return steam train ride from Caverswall Road Station through scenic countryside, including the steep and historic Foxfield Bank. The railway museum (free admission on open Sundays) showcases industrial steam engines such as Bellerophon (1874), North Staffordshire Railway No.2 (1923) and vintage diesel locomotives. Special experiences include the Victorian “Knotty” Heritage Train, Steam Driver Experience days, and popular Afternoon Tea Trains, along with seasonal gala events.
Day Rover tickets for the Heritage British Rail carriages cost £15.00 for adults, £12.00 for concessions and £8.00 for children (3–16 years), with disabled access tickets at £12.00. The Victorian ‘Knotty’ carriage day rover prices are the same. The full-day Steam Driver Experience costs £549.00, with accompanying guests at £12.00 each, while Afternoon Tea Trains are £64.95 for two people or £129.95 for four.
Foxfield Steam Railway combines industrial heritage with family-friendly experiences and scenic views. With free parking, an on-site buffet, bar and regular events, it offers much more than just a train ride. It’s an ideal destination for railway enthusiasts, families and anyone looking to enjoy a memorable day out in Staffordshire.
Features
- Paid
- Host birthday parties: Yes
Features
The Foxfield Museum
- All the steam locomotives at Foxfield worked in industry and many have North Staffordshire connections. The oldest is Bellerophon which was built in 1874, and the newest, Wimblebury, is from 1956.
- Amongst our Diesel locomotives is D-Day Veteran WD820. The Foxfield Railway Museum is home to some very special locomotives and artefacts. They include No. 2 the last surviving steam locomotive from the North Staffordshire Railway built in 1923.
- And also Rom River, the oldest purpose built standard-gauge diesel from 1929. See the beautifully restored Victorian ‘Knotty Coaches.’ Find out why a chair in a signalbox was dangerous and how the railways began over 200 years ago.
Knotty Heritage Train Experience
- Enjoy a unique heritage train ride through the Staffordshire countryside. The Knotty Heritage Train is something very special. It is one of the oldest standard gauge trains in regular passenger service anywhere in the world.
- The train comprises three original North Staffordshire Railway carriages dating from the 1870s just as they would have run in Victorian times on the local transport network. The train is hauled by a period steam locomotive.
- Come and experience the lively ride of a 4 wheeled Victorian railway carriage and wooden bench seats – very stimulating to the system at just 15 mph! Much more so than the 125 mph Pendolinos which ply the same Knotty metals as did the Knotty coaches 150 years earlier.
Driver Experience
- The Foxfield Railway Steam Driver Experience is a once in a lifetime, dream come true kind of day for all railway fans. Travel on the footplate of a steam engine while all the magic unfolds around you.
- Learn how to control the locomotive before taking two full round trips of the railway on the footplate, driving on one trip and firing (managing the fire, water and steam) on the other. There will be lots of opportunities for photographs to treasure and a certificate for the driver.
- This full day experience includes overalls, gloves and training for the driver, plus breakfast baps, lunch and afternoon snacks, and day rover passenger tickets for the driver and up to 3 chosen guests*.
Afternoon Tea Trains
- Afternoon Tea Trains are a favourite. Imagine enjoying a delicious home made afternoon tea while watching beautiful Staffordshire countryside roll by.
- When you book an Afternoon Tea Train experience, you’ll enjoy a table seat with a three tier stand laid out ready for you as you board the train.
- This includes locally sourced & and homemade goodies. Once the journey starts, our wonderful team will bring you a pot of tea to enjoy with your food. Coffee and sugar are available upon request.
Visit the website for events information.
Find out a little more about each key landmark along the way: Caverswall Road Station – home to Foxfield Railway, miniature railway, the buffet, gift shop, “The Foxfield Arms” bar & museum. See the interior map for the main station building.
- Creswell Ford level Crossing: here Caverswall Rd crosses the railway linking the picturesque villages of Caverswall and Dilhorne. One curious and macabre feature of this road is that, along its length, there were a number of unexplained aircraft crashes in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Staffordshire’s own Bermuda Triangle perhaps? A Spitfire from RAF High Ercall crashed in 1942 and the following year a Wellington bomber from RAF Wymeswold suffered a similar fate. In 1944 a Whitley aircraft from RAF Whitchurch Heath crashed on a training exercise. A Canberra jet bomber from RAF Scampton crashed in 1953 hitting the ground almost vertically and causing incredible destruction. In 1954 a de Havilland Venom crashed having taken off on a test flight from Ringway.
- The ‘Top Straight’: this part of the railway, passing through open Staffordshire countryside, is a good place to see our abundant local wildlife. The occasional kestrel can be seen hovering above the fields on the lookout for field mice, voles and beetles. Buzzards wheel around much higher in the sky on the lookout for larger prey including rabbits, pheasants and carrion. More often than not, the silent, rather sinister great grey heron can be seen motionless, standing in one of the pools adjoining the railway, waiting to strike at any unfortunate frog or newt which passes by. On a summer evening the familiar “Too-whit, Too-whoo” of tawny owls in Foxfield Wood may be heard calling to one another.
- Dilhorne Park Station: this country halt marks the limit of passenger services. Here you have time to stretch your legs for ten minutes while the loco “runs round” in preparation for the return journey. The bluebells in the adjacent wood are stunningly beautiful in May. At our summer and autumn gala you can, if you choose, walk through Foxfield Wood to the colliery and watch the steam locomotives, full regulator, full gear, ascending the fearsomely steep Foxfield Bank in spectacular fashion.
- Foxfield Colliery: the raison d’etre for the Foxfield Railway’s existence. Although the colliery closed more than 50 years ago much of the colliery site remains intact, restoration having been carried out a decade ago by means of a generous grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The site is open to visitors at our summer and autumn galas. It can be reached by shuttle bus from Caverwall Rd station or on foot by alighting at Dilhorne Park station. On gala days various activities take place including demonstrations by “Dubsy” the famous ex-Shelton Bar Steelworks crane tank.
7.74 miles
