The West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust Ltd is a charitable company established in 1972 and is one of the charities supporting the West Somerset Railway.

The Trust’s three broad objectives are:

• preserving and displaying heritage items relating to railways and the West Somerset Railway (WSR) in particular, and interpreting and curating all the heritage assets owned by the Trust;

• restoring the heritage carriages owned by the Trust for display and operation on the railway; and

• managing the museums at Bishops Lydeard and Blue Anchor.

The Trust has been successful in being awarded a Heritage Lottery grant towards the future development of the Gauge Museum. The Trust aims to encourage and engage with visitors through interpretation of the social and economic and physical impact of the railway in Somerset and the West Somerset Railway corridor in particular. In addition, it plans to inform and inspire the next generation, particularly through the STEM subjects, the science, technology and engineering of railways and its relevance to maths, as well as history, geography and economics.

For additional information please see the Membership section.