The Middy’s unique Victorian 4-wheeled carriages need protection.

The Mid-Suffolk light Railway (MSLR), affectionately known as the Middy, is the only standard gauge heritage railway in Suffolk. Our principle aim is to preserve the uniqueness of this Edwardian light railway which served rural Mid-Suffolk for nearly 50 years.

Although no actual vehicles of the railway survive, we have been able to obtain and restore carriages of the period and older. These maintain the look and feel of how the Middy would have operated in the first half of the 20th century. Therefore, since 2002, the Middy has been operating historic steam trains with genuine Victorian rolling stock. This gives our visitors, as closely as possible, the experience of train travel in a bygone age.

Our coaching stock consists of:

• Great Eastern Railway no.140, a first class smoking coach built at Stratford Works in 1863. At over 160 years old it is the oldest known Great Eastern Railway carriage in operational service.
• Carriage no.12 is a ‘brake/third coach built for the Great Eastern in 1875 for £275! It is a sister of a vehicle bought from the Great Eastern by the Middy in 1904. Thus it is very close to what was running in the early days of the MSLR.
• Coach no.13 is also a Great Eastern vehicle which started life in 1876 with 5 third class compartments. Volunteers at the Middy converted it to a first class saloon with three third class compartments. This mirrors the vehicle that the line’s superintendent had made for himself in the early part of the last century.

The Middy needs £100k to install a new siding and carriage storage shed, to stable these historic carriages along with other rolling stock needing protection now and in the future.

Please help us protect these examples of railway history for future generations.

The MSLR, operated entirely by volunteers since 1990, is a registered charity. It has a loyal fan base and an ever-increasing foot-fall of visitors attending the various events laid on each year. The MSLR was Suffolk Museum of the Year in 2015 and has won two first class awards from the Heritage Railway Association.

To donate to the Carriage Shed appeal: Visit mslr.org.uk/dovebrook-carriage-shed-appeal/. Or credit Mid-Suffolk Light Railway Company sort code 40 52 40, account no. 00018314, CAF Bank Ltd., 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ. Please quote Carriage Shed Appeal.