Ruislip Lido Railway

Please note that for operational reasons today Sunday 17th February, trains will run to the BLUE timetable instead of the advertised red timetable and the 1700 departure from Woody Bay (1725 return from Willow lawn) will not run.
Mad Bess will still be hauling all trains but we apologise for the late notice timetable change.

Steam returns to the railway this coming Sunday 17th February - 'Mad Bess' will haul the service, running the red timetable. Trains depart Woody Bay every 40 minutes from 12:20 - 16:40

An extremely productive week for our small but dedicated Permanent Way team at the railway this week, very ably assisted by three of our drivers, one of our young volunteers, and our Chief Mechanical Engineer among others!
In the space of just 4 days, all 100 metres of Haste Hill loop road has been removed, the track bed dug through and consolidated, 164 new sleepers drilled, laid and spaced out, 16 new 40ft rails brought to site, laid out and connected, and 9 of the rails sc...rewed down.
Time has also been spent extending and improving the loading area at Willow Lawn, making use of some surplus materials from the workshop project. Moving these materials has also finally freed up a significant amount of space at Woody Bay, where we can now finally get the yard back into a neat and tidy state.
Despite the weather, the work is always good fun for everybody and immensely satisfying to see what has been achieved at the end of the day. If you fancy getting involved, speak to us to find out more!
See More

It’s a beautiful day and we are running from 12:20-16:00! Whose coming to enjoy a ride through the woods in the winter sunshine?

'Graham Alexander' returns with the last train of the day from Willow Lawn. Graham is seen here at Wellington Junction, pushing through the down line point for a wrong road journey back to Woody Bay.

'Mad Bess' passes 'Lady of the Lakes' at Eleanor's Junction, with the first Willow Lawn service of the day. Steam dates for the coming months will be announced very soon!

Steam at the railway tomorrow - 'Mad Bess' will haul the service for her first 2019 outing, running the green timetable. Trains depart Woody Bay every 40 minutes from 12:20 - 15:40!
As a bonus for those into these sort of things, there will be the opportunity to experience unusual movements over Wellington Junction and wrong road running due to a Permanent Way possession between Wellington and Eleanor's.

2019 TIMETABLE NOW AVAILABLE
We have just uploaded our 2019 running days and times to our Timetable & Fares page of our website.
We have a number of events planned this year including the Easter Eggspress trains, a 40th Anniversary weekend event and our ever popular Santa Special Trains.
... Further details of these events will appear on the Events page of our website once we have finalised them and our 2019 leaflet will be available at the railway during February.
See More

Have you seen our latest videos on our YouTube channel?
Santa Trains part 2 below:
https://youtu.be/pJglgiYvNHc

Have you seen the our latest videos on our YouTube channel?
Santa Trains part 1 below:
https://youtu.be/vjp3XPqQXeo

'Bayhurst' departs Woody Bay with the service train on Remembrance Sunday.
Thanks to member Luca Mercurio for the photo.

Woody Bay Station looking festive today as we host our first of 4 Santa Special event days.
We look forward to welcoming all of you who have booked today! 🎄🎄🚦🚂

Somewhat to our surprise, this gem turned up lying next to our fence last week. It is a bogie from the original coaches built in 1945 for the opening of the railway!
Having already purchased the 12' gauge locomotive 'Prince Edward' in 1944, the Grand Union Canal Company (responsible for the creation of the Lido as a leisure attraction) purchased components for carriages during the latter part of the war. Sufficient parts were bought to allow 4 carriages to be assembled by the... canal company, but the bogies purchased proved to be unsuitable and these too had to be constructed from scratch. The bodywork was constructed in their own workshops, being made to the same scale as Prince Edward.
Upon delivery of 'Robert' and 4 new matching carriages in 1973, the 4 original 1945 carriages were stored in a garage unit at the Lido, near to where the Water's Edge Pub is today. We can only assume that at some point this one was 'removed' from the garage and ended up in the lake, before being discovered recently near the shore with the extremely low waterline from the past few months.
At least 3 more of these bogies exist locally with a private collector, in a somewhat better condition than the example here! Although very fragile in places, this one will make an excellent heritage piece for future open days, especially when displayed alongside our current air braked bogie demonstration, again showing just how much the railway has developed over time.
See More

Trains are now running through the half term week until Sunday 28th on the red timetable service. Trains depart Woody Bay every 40 minutes from 1220 - 1620.

A bit of Bess maintenance over the last few weeks, making use of the inside pit as well as the outside pit for the dirtier tasks. Hopefully she'll be back in service for the Santa Specials!

A kind member of the public has alerted us that recently some of our wooden railway sleepers which we use to maintain our track had been taken from the railway by someone and are being sold in the local area on Facebook. We did a count of our stock to find some had indeed been stolen and again last night one of our own staff had found more of our sleepers thrown over the perimeter fence ready for collection under the cover of darkness by the individual or they had been dist...urbed in the act of theft.
These are quite expensive items which we do not appreciate being taken from us, the standard size measures 35 inches long, 8 inches wide and 4 inches tall. There are some longer sleepers however and in an attempt to foil any more thefts we have sprayed them all with blue paint (see pictures) and done another count so we know EXACTLY how many we have in stock.
If you happen to be looking to buy some sleepers for a project of your own and you are offered or see these available with blue markings DO NOT BUY THEM as they are stolen property. The Police have already been notified.
Let’s make these sleepers too hot to handle!!
See More

No trains today at a very quiet Lido due to the weather. Services resume next Saturday, from 12:20 - 16:20.

And they're gone! All of our Santa Specials tickets have now sold out in an incredible 10 days. If you didn't get a chance to purchase any, please visit our website (http://www.ruisliplidorailway.org/SantaS pecials2018) for details about adding your name to the waiting list.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE follow the instructions on the website carefully so that our email system adds you to the list! If you don't, your email may get lost and not added to the list.

Saturday 6th October - SERVICE CANCELLED
Unfortunately due to short notice unavailability of staff and in view of the poor weather forecast for this afternoon, we have decided to cancel the train service for today (Saturday 6th October).
We are sorry for the disappointment this causes you if you intended to come for a ride on the railway today.

What a wonderful day we had Sunday seeing Father Christmas, the staff and volunteers should be so proud of themselves they did an amazing job. They worked so hard to make it such a memorable experience. Their was three trains running so as soon as we got there, we was able to jump striate onto the train. My little girl loved going through the woods seeing all the beautiful decorations and lights. Then we got to see Father Christmas, he was very friendly and my little one loved him, she got a sticker to say she had met Santa and a present, me and my mum also received a big chocolate bar (bonus!!) we went back the the station, where we then popped into the tea room, where we received a complementary tea or coffee and a mince pie. Well done to everyone involved we had an amazing day. Such a great experience. Thank you �

The train fares was excellent value for money and return was cheap and easy to have car park by the station only you have Hillingdon card to swipe the ticket machine cos it's free all day.

The beach is quite busy but worth it for fun to swim but was cold and gets to use it. They've got changing rooms and toilets but needs cleaning up in the toilets. Even more activities on the play area which have sprinklers everywhere is lots of fun for kids.

Ruislip Lido railway is great for kids and well behaved dogs. Would recommend. Although it was the bank holiday the beach area was way too busy and larger older children were playing on young childrens' appartus. There was no supervision. Would definitely go again but not on a bank holiday.

Just been to the santa special that was rebooked from the 10th due to the snow.. loved it. My daughter loves steam trains so the train ride was loved as always.. we did have a 30 minute wait to see santa but santa was great. (The first santa to get my child to actually tlk to him.. shes a little scared normally!) The gift bag at the end was awesome too! My daughted opened it there and then and was chuffed to see a learning game.. weve just got home and was going to enjoy playing her new game to find the box seemed half empty.. it turns out its not even the right thing in the box.. were gutted :( overall we loved the santa special at ruislip.. was just abit of a downer to find her present wasnt correct as the box looked brill. Thank you also for the complimentary mince pie and cup of tea.. a lovely touch.

Had a lovely day out with friends and my two daughters. The pub serves really nice food and very friendly service.

Can't wait to go back.

Had a lovely day here with my grandson and my daughter and hubby, loads to do for the kids only thing is the LADIES toilets were very much to be desired, mostly blocked and not flushing, so unless you wanted to walk round to the pub you were best to hang on till you got home.

Had a great visit to your Railway on a day trip from South Derbyshire with my two boys, the staff were great and let us have a closer look at the loco

Fantastic time as always on the Santa Train (6th year in a row!). Special thanks to the lady on the gift table (after seeing Santa), who happily altered the gift bags for my 2 boys with milk allergy with safe treats I brought whilst we were waiting in the queue to see. All the volunteers there have done a fantastic job yet again. Can't wait till next year!

Fabulous day yesterday, yes the train was a few minutes late but the volunteers made every effort to keep our little ones entertained and even though we were last to see Santa on our particular train- we were talking about a 10-12 minute queu max, it was not too busy, the gifts received were fabulously age appropriate and we would say a perfect Santa experience for the under 5s, thank-you 😊

Fabulous day out to meet Santa, the ride on the train is a magical experience for young children. All the volunteers are amazing, in the cafe & on the train. Was expecting lots of queues because I picked a Saturday. Most we queued was 10 minutes to meet Santa. Free hot drink & mince pie for adults, great age appropriate toy for child & even a bar of chocolate for adults. The Santa was very friendly. Can’t find one fault with the experience, just wrap up warm. I love Ruslip Lido anyway. Will go again next year, great value for money, £41 for 4 adults & one child & parking £3.

Excellent place, can just imagine what its going to be like in the summer, will need to be there early to grab a spot

Can't thank all the volunteers enough for a fabulous santa express experience. It was truely wonderful for all of us (loved the treats for the grown ups!), & the most engaging Father Christmas we've met. Thank you so much for rearranging the snowed out day - its made our Christmas. You guys rock!!! �����

Appreciating animals are visiting the Ruislip lido railway with the animals

We love the railway , I used to go on it as a small child years ago and now I have taken my children and grandchildren on that wonderful journey

We are coming with animals , what could be better than animals to hold and a train journey

11th and 12 Th March will b a great weekend

Amazing day out in glorious sunshine!! The staff worked really hard on the railway even though it was extremely busy. It's amazing to think they are all volunteers. My train obsessed little boy was not disappointed and was thrilled when we realised we were getting a ride on the steam train! It was. Lovely journey from one end of the lido to the other and was a bargain at £3 return for na adult and free for under 3's. Can't recommend enough and we will definitely be back!

Always a great day out. Such good value - my daughter loves it. A lovely ride through the woods, lots to see. Buggy friendly too. There are refreshments both ends and a playground at the beach end, so not only for very hot days!

A splendid trip - the train goes almost all around the lake with lovely woodland views and glimpses of the water. The line is very professionally run by volunteers, all of whom are friendly, courteous and efficient.



As a professional engineer I was pleased to see that track and trains are superbly maintained with safety as the top priority. The ride is particularly smooth for a line with a gauge of only 12 inches. Kudos to the permanent way team!



There is a café at each end of the line. Both serve drinks and snacks; the one at Woody Bay serves meals too. There is a pub/carvery next to the main car park near Willow Lake station but it doesn't get great reviews, so it's best to save your appetite for Cafe San Remo next to the lovely sandy beach at Woody Bay.



If you want to burn off the calories, there are some very pretty woodland walks, all of which are well signposted.

A lovely walk around the lake very clean but could maybe do with some bins to advoid littering when busy. Children enjoyed the play area and the sand while the adults enjoyed a very tasty hot drink and tasty cake from the cafe.

As it's a popular area to walk dogs maybe have some water out for the dogs to drink.

Toilets were very clean and looked well maintained.

Will be visiting again during the warmer weather.

We came along on a day out as another train place we were gonna go to was closed!

we didn't really know what to expect. It was brilliant and even better than what we had expected. Very friendly staff on the train that was happy to help with questions at the ticket office. My son loved the train. Wish we had been more prepared at took a picnic with us. The only thing I would say is the toilets need a bit more care and attention to keep clean On the beach side. But apart from that we will be back again.

The train fares was excellent value for money and return was cheap and easy to have car park by the station only you have Hillingdon card to swipe the ticket machine cos it's free all day.

The beach is quite busy but worth it for fun to swim but was cold and gets to use it. They've got changing rooms and toilets but needs cleaning up in the toilets. Even more activities on the play area which have sprinklers everywhere is lots of fun for kids.

What a wonderful day we had Sunday seeing Father Christmas, the staff and volunteers should be so proud of themselves they did an amazing job. They worked so hard to make it such a memorable experience. Their was three trains running so as soon as we got there, we was able to jump striate onto the train. My little girl loved going through the woods seeing all the beautiful decorations and lights. Then we got to see Father Christmas, he was very friendly and my little one loved him, she got a sticker to say she had met Santa and a present, me and my mum also received a big chocolate bar (bonus!!) we went back the the station, where we then popped into the tea room, where we received a complementary tea or coffee and a mince pie. Well done to everyone involved we had an amazing day. Such a great experience. Thank you �

The train fares was excellent value for money and return was cheap and easy to have car park by the station only you have Hillingdon card to swipe the ticket machine cos it's free all day.

The beach is quite busy but worth it for fun to swim but was cold and gets to use it. They've got changing rooms and toilets but needs cleaning up in the toilets. Even more activities on the play area which have sprinklers everywhere is lots of fun for kids.

Ruislip Lido railway is great for kids and well behaved dogs. Would recommend. Although it was the bank holiday the beach area was way too busy and larger older children were playing on young childrens' appartus. There was no supervision. Would definitely go again but not on a bank holiday.

Just been to the santa special that was rebooked from the 10th due to the snow.. loved it. My daughter loves steam trains so the train ride was loved as always.. we did have a 30 minute wait to see santa but santa was great. (The first santa to get my child to actually tlk to him.. shes a little scared normally!) The gift bag at the end was awesome too! My daughted opened it there and then and was chuffed to see a learning game.. weve just got home and was going to enjoy playing her new game to find the box seemed half empty.. it turns out its not even the right thing in the box.. were gutted :( overall we loved the santa special at ruislip.. was just abit of a downer to find her present wasnt correct as the box looked brill. Thank you also for the complimentary mince pie and cup of tea.. a lovely touch.

Had a lovely day out with friends and my two daughters. The pub serves really nice food and very friendly service.

Can't wait to go back.

Had a lovely day here with my grandson and my daughter and hubby, loads to do for the kids only thing is the LADIES toilets were very much to be desired, mostly blocked and not flushing, so unless you wanted to walk round to the pub you were best to hang on till you got home.

Had a great visit to your Railway on a day trip from South Derbyshire with my two boys, the staff were great and let us have a closer look at the loco

Fantastic time as always on the Santa Train (6th year in a row!). Special thanks to the lady on the gift table (after seeing Santa), who happily altered the gift bags for my 2 boys with milk allergy with safe treats I brought whilst we were waiting in the queue to see. All the volunteers there have done a fantastic job yet again. Can't wait till next year!

Fabulous day yesterday, yes the train was a few minutes late but the volunteers made every effort to keep our little ones entertained and even though we were last to see Santa on our particular train- we were talking about a 10-12 minute queu max, it was not too busy, the gifts received were fabulously age appropriate and we would say a perfect Santa experience for the under 5s, thank-you 😊

Fabulous day out to meet Santa, the ride on the train is a magical experience for young children. All the volunteers are amazing, in the cafe & on the train. Was expecting lots of queues because I picked a Saturday. Most we queued was 10 minutes to meet Santa. Free hot drink & mince pie for adults, great age appropriate toy for child & even a bar of chocolate for adults. The Santa was very friendly. Can’t find one fault with the experience, just wrap up warm. I love Ruslip Lido anyway. Will go again next year, great value for money, £41 for 4 adults & one child & parking £3.

Excellent place, can just imagine what its going to be like in the summer, will need to be there early to grab a spot

Can't thank all the volunteers enough for a fabulous santa express experience. It was truely wonderful for all of us (loved the treats for the grown ups!), & the most engaging Father Christmas we've met. Thank you so much for rearranging the snowed out day - its made our Christmas. You guys rock!!! �����

Appreciating animals are visiting the Ruislip lido railway with the animals

We love the railway , I used to go on it as a small child years ago and now I have taken my children and grandchildren on that wonderful journey

We are coming with animals , what could be better than animals to hold and a train journey

11th and 12 Th March will b a great weekend

Amazing day out in glorious sunshine!! The staff worked really hard on the railway even though it was extremely busy. It's amazing to think they are all volunteers. My train obsessed little boy was not disappointed and was thrilled when we realised we were getting a ride on the steam train! It was. Lovely journey from one end of the lido to the other and was a bargain at £3 return for na adult and free for under 3's. Can't recommend enough and we will definitely be back!

Always a great day out. Such good value - my daughter loves it. A lovely ride through the woods, lots to see. Buggy friendly too. There are refreshments both ends and a playground at the beach end, so not only for very hot days!

A splendid trip - the train goes almost all around the lake with lovely woodland views and glimpses of the water. The line is very professionally run by volunteers, all of whom are friendly, courteous and efficient.



As a professional engineer I was pleased to see that track and trains are superbly maintained with safety as the top priority. The ride is particularly smooth for a line with a gauge of only 12 inches. Kudos to the permanent way team!



There is a café at each end of the line. Both serve drinks and snacks; the one at Woody Bay serves meals too. There is a pub/carvery next to the main car park near Willow Lake station but it doesn't get great reviews, so it's best to save your appetite for Cafe San Remo next to the lovely sandy beach at Woody Bay.



If you want to burn off the calories, there are some very pretty woodland walks, all of which are well signposted.

A lovely walk around the lake very clean but could maybe do with some bins to advoid littering when busy. Children enjoyed the play area and the sand while the adults enjoyed a very tasty hot drink and tasty cake from the cafe.

As it's a popular area to walk dogs maybe have some water out for the dogs to drink.

Toilets were very clean and looked well maintained.

Will be visiting again during the warmer weather.

We came along on a day out as another train place we were gonna go to was closed!

we didn't really know what to expect. It was brilliant and even better than what we had expected. Very friendly staff on the train that was happy to help with questions at the ticket office. My son loved the train. Wish we had been more prepared at took a picnic with us. The only thing I would say is the toilets need a bit more care and attention to keep clean On the beach side. But apart from that we will be back again.

The train fares was excellent value for money and return was cheap and easy to have car park by the station only you have Hillingdon card to swipe the ticket machine cos it's free all day.

The beach is quite busy but worth it for fun to swim but was cold and gets to use it. They've got changing rooms and toilets but needs cleaning up in the toilets. Even more activities on the play area which have sprinklers everywhere is lots of fun for kids.