Narrow Gauge Heaven: information on UK and worldwide narrow gauge railways

Rail fund

I am very pleased to report that currently the New Rail Fund stands at
£8,550.
A big thank you to everyone who has contributed so far, your
generosity is much appreciated.

Keith Theobald – Outdoor Foreman

Source: Talyllyn Railway: Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 7 May 2008

Tracksiders 2008

Tracksiders week 25th – 30th May 2008.
Further information at www.talyllyn.co.uk/trps/tracksiders/2008.html

Source: Talyllyn Railway: Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 30 April 2008

A remarkable survivor

The Moseley Railway Trust exists to preserve, conserve and interpret locomotives, vehicles and other artifacts from industrial narrow gauge railways. Often everything we do is in the past tense – the industrial railway narrow gauge is all but extinct in the UK, other than a few pockets of resistance at peat works and the like.

So, this week, I thought I’d turn attention slightly further afield and look at such a railway still running. The pleasent small Swiss town of Bruggen is located on the main Gotthard pass railway line running from Zurich through the famous tunnel to Italy. The Holcim cement works in Bruggen uses a 750mm gauge railway to convey the raw product for cement making – limestone – from a quarry which is about 2km from the works itself. As you might expect in Switzerland, the railway is a model of modern efficiency. It uses two modern Diema locos, built in Germany, and these shuttle from the automatic loader to the automatic unloader via a railway which runs through pleasant Alpine meadows, past cows with bells (because their horns don’t work), across a main road and underneath the main line railway. The most unusual feature is the use of tiny “driving trailers” – the locos don’t run round at each end, the trains are worked push-pull with the driver in the driving trailer or the locomotive.

There will be a fuller account of this railway in a forthcoming edition of Moseley Matters, which is the quarterly journal produced by the Moseley Railway Trust. Receiving Moseley Matters is just one of the many benefits of membership – a snip at 15 pounds a year. Contact us at here for more information. Big News is coming – keep looking here regularly and be the first (maybe the second at a pinch) to know!!

Source: Moseley Railway Trust – Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 30 April 2008

RLSR Mini Gala

On the 18th may, The Rudyard Lake Steam Railway is holding a mini gala (minus a visiting engine) for the heywood group who are visiting.
This isn’t a main event in the 2008 season, but pupil trains will be running as normal, with a two train service.
Five steam locomotives should be in service so it will be worth coming down for a visit

Posted by Adam Jeffrey on 28 April 2008

BARKING PARK RAILWAY - TO RE-OPEN

The miniature railway in Barking Park has languished, unused for over three years now, but thanks to the revitalisation of the Park it has been decided to re-open the railway. The original gauge of 9.5” is being replaced by a 7.25” gauge railway. The locomotive, ‘LITTLE NAN’ is in store and it is hoped that it will be overhauled and re-gauged to run again. It is planned to open the railway the second week of July and run every weekend until August. More news will follow as the railway progresses.

Posted by Ray Armstead on 24 April 2008

Simplexes at Work

One of our correspondents has recently sent us some photographs of a narrow gauge diesel locomotive hard at work at a banana plantation in Brazil. Nilson Rodrigues reports that the locomotive is at use at Ararau banana farm near Santos. Simplex locomotives of this type were produced in Bedford, England in their thousands and exported worldwide for use in mines, quarries and plantations. Due to their simple and robust construction, they proved extremely reliable and easy to maintain and repair. This example is at least fifty years old and has been re-engined to keep it in service but the original 2-speed reversing gearbox is still present. There are 4 similar locomotives all working in the same industry in this region.

Building on the successful deployment of the first prototypes on tactical light railways in the First World War, the Simplex loco soon found a ready market serving industry throughout the UK. Although they are now virtually extinct in UK industry, many examples have been preserved and continue to earn their keep in different ways. At the Moseley Railway Trust’s site near Chesterton in Staffordshire, Simplex locomotives are helping the Moseley Railway Trust build a new narrow gauge railway and museum in the Apedale Country Park. The second photograph shows one of our collection that spent its working life in the sand quarries of Leighton Buzzard.

Part of our mission is to explain how the little-known industrial narrow gauge railways served the needs of industrial Britain. The ubiquitous Simplex locomotive is a part of that story. To learn more you can read the Simplex story here. If you would like to help us preserve these machines for future generations, we would be delighted to hear from you. Contact us here.

Top photograph courtesy Nilson Rodrigues

Source: Moseley Railway Trust – Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 22 April 2008

Open day - First Chance to see the Moseley Collection in ten years!!

The Moseley Railway Trust (MRT) will hold Open Days at its new Apedale site on 13/14 September 2008. This will be the public’s first opportunity to visit the site and see the MRT’s large and varied collection of industrial narrow gauge locomotives for 10 years.
The MRT has been working on the Apedale site since 2006 and significant progress has been made. The most notable achievements have included laying a significant amount of 2’0” gauge railway track, and the construction of a large storage building. This has allowed the movement of the MRT’s collection of rolling stock and other artifacts to the Apedale site. Most of the MRT’s rolling stock has been in store since the MRT left its previous site, at a school in Cheadle near Stockport, in 1998. The collection is one of the largest in the UK, if not the world, numbering more than 50 locomotives. These locomotives include steam, diesel, petrol and battery power, and were used on the industrial narrow gauge systems which once thrived in the UK, and contributed so much to develop the world in which we live today. Sadly, these systems are now almost extinct.
The weekend will see the operation of the first steam-hauled trains at Apedale, using the MRT’s Kerr Stuart locomotive “Stanhope” (Kerr Stuart number 2395 of 1917). Although it will not be possible to offer passenger train rides in September, the MRT collection will be on display and it is planned to operate demonstration goods and works trains.
It is hoped that the weekend may produce one or more “surprise” guest locomotives.
Admission prices have yet to be fixed, but the site will be open from 11.00 to 17.00 on both days. There will be sales stands and refreshments will be available in the café run by the Apedale Heritage Centre, the MRT’s partner in the Apedale development. The Apedale site is close to the village of Chesterton, in Newcastle under Lyme, North Staffordshire. It is easily accessed from the M6 (junction 16) and many other major roads. There is public transport access using a frequent bus service to Chesterton village.

You can always contact us here.

Source: Moseley Railway Trust – Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 17 April 2008

Rail fund

Tracksiders 2008

A remarkable survivor

RLSR Mini Gala

BARKING PARK RAILWAY - TO RE-OPEN

Simplexes at Work

Open day - First Chance to see the Moseley Collection in ten years!!

Spring Outdoor Week 2008 - Dolgoch Tamping

Spring Outdoor Week - Cynfal

Spring Outdoor Week 2008 - Abergynolwyn Slide

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