The Yeovil Railway Centre is a small railway museum at Yeovil Junction

Yeovil Junction railway station

Yeovil Junction railway station is the busier of two railway stations serving the town of Yeovil in England. The station is outside the town in the village of Stoford; although Yeovil is in Somerset, the station was in Dorset until 1995. It was opened by the London and South Western Railway in...

 on the L&SWR

London and South Western Railway

The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...

 West of England Main Line

West of England Main Line

The West of England Main Line is a British railway line that runs from , Hampshire to Exeter St Davids in Devon, England. Passenger services run between London Waterloo station and Exeter...

 between Salisbury

Salisbury railway station

Salisbury is a railway station serving the city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Located southwest of London Waterloo, the station is the crossing point of the West of England Main Line and the Wessex Main Line...

 and Exeter

Exeter Central railway station

Exeter Central railway station is the most centrally located of the railway stations in Exeter, Devon, England. It is smaller than St Davids which is on the west side of the city but it is served by trains on the London Waterloo to Exeter main line, and is also by local services to , and . From...

.

It was created in 1993 in response to British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

's decision to remove the turntable from Yeovil Junction. Approximately ¼ mile of track along the Clifton Maybank spur is used for demonstration trains.

Description

The site contains a G.W.R.

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

 transfer shed

Goods shed

A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train.A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built alongside a track with possibly just a canopy over the door...

 built in the 1860s which was erected to facilitate the transfer of goods from broad gauge

Broad gauge

Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

 to standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 freight wagons. This is the last remaining shed of its type on its original site and has been converted to a visitor centre. The site also has an S.R.

Southern Railway (Great Britain)

The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...

 turntable and a 15,000 gallon water tower

Water tower

A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....

. These have been restored to working order for the servicing of steam locomotives. An engine shed

Motive power depot

Motive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...

 was built and opened in 1999.

Events

The centre holds regular events including Train Days where steam train rides are operated, using a brake van

Brake van

Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard...

 down the Clifton Maybank spur, and the turntable is demonstrated. Often there are additional attractions on site such as the miniature railway, shed tours, model railway and art gallery. Other events include the Train & Tractor Day and Santa Specials.

Mainline steam excursions to Exeter or Weymouth often call here for the locomotive to be turned and serviced.

Diesel Locomotives

• Ruston & Hornsby 4wDM Yeo (works number 458959).
• Fowler
  John Fowler & Co.
  thumb|right|John Fowler & Co. [[steam roller]] of 1923John Fowler & Co Engineers of Leathley Road, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England produced traction engines and ploughing implements and equipment, as well as railway equipment. Fowler also produced the Track Marshall tractor which was a...
  
   0-4-0DM Cockney Rebel (works number 4000007) (Privately Owned).
• British Rail Class 50
  British Rail Class 50
  The British Rail Class 50 is a diesel locomotive built from 1967-68 by English Electric at their Vulcan Foundry Works in Newton-le-Willows. Fifty of these locomotives were built to haul express passenger trains on the, then non-electrified, section of the West Coast Main Line between Crewe,...
  
  50050 Fearless (Privately Owned).