The Bicton Woodland Railway (BWR) remains the best way to travel around the the park. Tickets can be purchased at reception on the day of visit for a small additional fee, please see below ticket prices. The journey lasts 25 minutes and transports you through the majestic trees in the Pinetum to the 19th century Hermitage summerhouse at the far end of the Gardens before returning alongside the lake.
Estate staff at Bicton demonstrated their ingenuity when they were asked in 1962 to build a railway, complete with a station, engine shed, and to have it operational before the gardens opened at Easter the following year.
The first section of track was laid at Bicton Station in May 1962. The entire original line through the Pinetum was completed in August and opened as an additional attraction in the gardens. In 1976, the line was extended to the Hermitage, making a total length of one-and-a-half miles (2.4km) and a journey time of about 25 minutes. For nearly 40 years, the Bicton Woodland Railway relied on veteran locomotives, including one built during the First World War, to provide an increasingly popular service. The new millennium brought the arrival of Bicton’s first brand-new train, specially designed for what is now one of only two 18-inch gauge leisure lines in the country.
Gradients of over 1 in 30 dictated that something more powerful than a truly miniature railway was required at Bicton. When an 18-inch gauge, 11-tonne steam locomotive became available in 1962, it was found to be ideal for the job, despite its advanced age. It had been built in 1916 for the Royal Arsenal munitions factory at Woolwich, London. Named after its original place of work Woolwich needed a little more than a fresh coat of paint, but its wagons presented a problem. Under Arsenal regulations, the woodwork of trucks used for carrying explosives had to be burnt before they could be sold. Consequently, Bicton bought six burnt-out wagon frames and bogies, on which estate carpenters built BWR’s first passenger carriages. Steam power made Woolwich a firm favourite, although at the turn of the millennium BWR locomotives were to be diesel-driven for economy and ease of operation.
Tickets must be purchased at reception on the day of a visit and cannot be pre-booked before arrival.
Adults – £4.00
Concessions – £3.50
Children – £2.50
We also take Tesco Days Out Vouchers at reception
Thursday – August 1st
