VISIT newly refurbished Viewing Galleries as part of the Watercress Line restoration project.

The Watercress Line has now completed the refurbishment of its Main Viewing Gallery and Carriage Viewing Gallery at Ropley station, thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund supported Canadian Pacific project.

There are new displays about the Watercress Line’s history, its locomotives and how these and the carriages are restored to their former glory.

There are also new hands-on interactive tools which help visitors learn about aspects of railway life. For example, find out which locomotive has travelled the equivalent of the moon and back - twice. Or find out how long it takes for a steam locomotive and a car to come to a stop when travelling 25mph, 50mph and 70mph on the Stopping Distances interactive display. Find out about passenger experiences by opening the doors to different rooms and even touch parts of the carriages.

Some £46,000 was invested in Ropley station’s engineering site to improve the visitor experience and provide visitors with a better understanding of the work at the railway. This has been completed as part of the Canadian Pacific project which focuses on the restoration of Merchant Navy class Canadian Pacific.

Dr Becky Peacock said: “We hope that visitors enjoy the changes that we have made to the Main Viewing Gallery, Carriage Viewing Gallery and along our Restoration Route. We have worked hard to improve the visitor experience at Ropley, which is home to our engineering workshops. We are passionate about what we do here and we want visitors to be able to share in this passion.

“The new interpretation and hands-on interactives will get visitors engaged with everything about the railway. We could not have done this without the funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund or our great designer Abound Design and Interpretation.”

For more information about the work of the Watercress Line and the Heritage Lottery-funded restoration project of the Canadian Pacific (CanPac) visit www.watercressline.co.uk/canpac

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