The Mid Hants Railway – A Brief History of a Heritage Railway

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Wheel repairs in the Wheel drop Shed at Ropley

Keith Charman

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Boiler work in Ropley Yard

Keith Charman

The line from Alton to Winchester was officially closed on the 5th February 1973, the British Railways Board poster put up at the stations along the line gave notice that “… the railway service between Alton and Winchester will be withdrawn and Medstead & Four Marks, Ropley, Alresford and Itchen Abbas stations closed. Details of the alternative bus services are available at local railway stations and bus offices.”
Once the electrification of the route to Bournemouth was complete BR considered it unnecessary to keep the Mid-Hants line open, despite its strategic value as an alternative route from Waterloo to Winchester. Closure notices had been issued in 1967, but a huge campaign against closure was the result, with local objectors airing their views and beginning the fight to retain the line in use. Local Councils joined in the campaign and the Deputy Clerk to Winchester Rural District Council was put in charge of the campaign. The one thousand objectors were sufficient to legally force a hearing by the South Eastern Area Transport Users Consultative Committee. The meeting was held at Perin’s school in April 1968, the arguments put forward by the objectors had the required effect but this proved to be only a temporary halt to the closure procedures. Another enquiry in July 1970 was held after further threats of closure and it was to be another13 months before the Secretary of State announced his decision and it was to allow BR to proceed with the closure of the line. Two further enquiries were forced and despite an appeal the then Secretary of State for the Environment, Geoffrey Ripon, announced on 1st December 1972 that the closure would be permitted as proposed alternative bus services were satisfactory.
During 1972 the railway press announced that a company, the Mid-Hants Railway Ltd was in negotiations with British Railways to save the section of the line between Alton and Alresford, and the County Council Finance Committee agreed to pay BR £13,650 per year to keep the track in place. Eventually in April 1977 the line was again open for business between Alton and Ropley, with services being extended to Medstead & Four Marks in May 1983 and to Alton in May 1985. Alton is connected to South Western Railway services serving Waterloo and intermediate stations.
The line’s main locomotive shed and workshops were constructed at Ropley.

The line is maintained and run by a small core of paid staff and supported by several hundred volunteers fulfilling many roles and coming from a huge range of backgrounds and skills.

The four stations of the Mid-Hants Railway all have passing loops, enabling trains to pass, or for locomotives to “run round” its train – meaning moving from one end of the train to the other. Each station also has its own signalbox. Many of the structures on the railway come from varied locations, for example; Ropley signalbox originates from Netley in Hampshire; Medstead footbridge from Cowes on the Isle of Wight; Alton water tower from Aldershot and the Alresford West Country Buffet building from Lyme Regis in Dorset.

Many locomotives have passed through the Mid-Hants, some for restoration, some owned by the railway and others on various loan arrangements. The first locomotive to arrive in July 1973 was “Kent No 2” and small 0-6-0ST (6 driving wheels and a saddle tank), followed by “Slough Estates Ltd No 3” a Hudswell & Clarke Co 0-6-0ST arriving when the Slough Estates Railway closed in 1974. The railway currently has 6 operational steam engines and several operational diesels.