Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society

The Trust has been pleased to accept invitations to visit other 2ft. gauge lines. Thus both "Wendy" and "Cloister" have been to the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway and the Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre (where Wendy is currently based). Wendy has also been 'on holiday' to Hayling Seaside Railway. Whilst her sister has remained in England, "Cloister" has been back on several occasions to Wales, to the Bala Lake and Ffestiniog Railways.

Wendy

Ordered during the First World War by the Ministry of Munitions from W.G. Bagnall Ltd. of Stafford, 0-4-0 saddle tank "Wendy" was not completed by the Armistice. She was sold in 1919 to the Votty and Bowydd slate quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog. By 1930 she had been transferred to the Dorothea Quarry at Nantlle, acquiring her name there. She fell out of use around the end of the Second World War, to moulder away in the quarry.

Bought by the embryo H.N.G.R.S. in the early ninteen sixties, her purchase price of £30 was not the bargain which might be thought. A sister engine in working order changed hands around the same time for about the same amount! Rebuilt between 1969 and 1979 she ran, firstly, on a private site in Hampshire, then, briefly, at a holiday centre on Hayling Island, before transfer to Kew Bridge Steam Museum. Wendy has proved a good servant to the Trust, and after spending some time at Bursledon Brickworks she is currently enjoying a stay at the Amberley Chalk Pits Museum.

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Cloister

In many ways "Cloister", another 0-4-0 saddle tank, is the pride of the fleet. She is one of the celebrated "Quarry Hunslets" which combine good looks, mechanical toughness and haulage capacity. Built by the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds in 1891 for the Dinorwic Slate Quarry at Llanberis, she was later named after the winner of the 1893 Grand National. Her job involved shunting slate wagons on galleries halfway up a mountain and she survived this arduous work until 1962 when sold to Mr. R.C.U. Corbett. Later Mr. Corbett most generously gave her to the Trust.

Cloister saw a few years use after 1969 but boiler problems then resulted in her withdrawal. She was extensively overhauled over a long period, first at the Moors Valley Railway near Ringwood and later at Kew Bridge, where a new boiler was made for her. Since return to service in 1998, she has attracted much attention and has paid several, highly successful, visits to other railways.

Unfortunately, Cloister's 10 year boiler certificate has now expired, and it has become apparent that she will require a complete set of boiler tubes to be able to run again. Current estimates for this work are in the region of Ł4500 and the Trust is currently fundraising to raise this amount.

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Agwi Pet

Known as "Pet" at the erstwhile Agwi refinery at Fawley, this is a two cylinder petrol locomotive built by Motor Rail Ltd. of Bedford and sold under their "Simplex" trademark. By 1939, when she was made, most of these machines were being fitted with diesel engines and the archaic power unit ideally needs its own refinery to keep it in fuel! Modified by the addition of a cab and alterations to the ignition system, Agwi now performs valuable service at Bursledon on permanent way trains and on the demonstration runs for visitors.

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Brambridge Hall

Although older and larger than Agwi Pet (1931) this Motor Rail product has a four cylinder petrol engine of more modern design than her stablemate and is noticeably less thirsty! Built for the construction of the Winchester bypass, she later gravitated to the gravel pits of Hall and Company at Brambridge, hence her name.

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