The initial terminus of the Santa Trains - the starting point of the restoration - The Headland! Santa's Grotto was located in the temporary wooden engine shed seen on the right in the first image. Plus images of the early years of the Santa Trains in the 1980s. Things have come a long way! 2023 proved to be another hugely successful festive season at the railway with record bookings for our Santa Trains and Boxing Day Mince Pie trains as they continue to grow in popularity. Over the various operating days all three steam locomotives; Sea Lion, Brown Bear and Otter were in service operating intensive shuttle services. We continue to improve the events bit by bit every year from reducing queing with the ticketing system, to improvements in decorations, a newly refurbished grotto for our guest from the North Pole and the new addition of the snowmen photo seat nicknamed 'Boris & Doris!' 2023 was also the 40th anniversary of the Santa Trains, the first services being a simple affair operated only a year after the restoration of the railway had been started in 1982, primarily as a much needed fundraiser. Since then they have continued to grow in popularity and also in term of complexity and standards.

Our first ever Not So Scary Hop tu Naa trains have proved a big hit with families. Ran over the weekend of 28th and 29th September, the trains were a new addition to our special event calendar as Jinny the Witch welcomed children (young and old) to her lair. Fortunately for all the boys and girls, Jinny is a kind witch and her assistants were on hand to give out plenty of sweets. With passengers met by a giant pumpkin, they boarded the train bound for Witches Hollow, passing some friendly ghosts hanging out trackside. Once at the terminus, they met Jinny and her assistants, had some hot chocolate (with whipped cream and marshmallows) and headed off on the train back down into the glen. Railway chairman Trevor Nall said that the railway decided to run the trains when they thought that younger children weren’t being catered for during Hop tu Naa. He said: ‘We picked the non-scary trains hoping that would be an attraction and I think judging by the amount of people we’ve managed to attract, it appears to be working well and it certainly seems to be popular.’ Trevor said that by booking people into 15 minute slots, the railway had managed to ensure no-one was waiting for too long, while running the trains at night was a special treat for the volunteers as they never normally get to operate in the dark. Looking ahead, Trevor confirmed the trains will be back next year, but with some new additions, saying ‘we will certainly improve that we’ve noticed that maybe nobody else does’. In the meantime, Groudle Glen Railway will be back in operation this winter with the Santa Trains and the ever popular Mince Pie Trains. For a video from the event and a full story, check out the Gef story here.