British Narrow Gauge

[dario]

Just trying to liven up a bit. I would just love somebody giving me some news, and surely there would be other guys enjoying it.
So I start with Volk's Railway, Brighton. Last news I have - it's in despair. Is some work going on?
Another argument: statistics. From railfaneurope.net I learn there are 88 km (55 miles) of narrow gauges ranging from 0.38 to 0.8 m in Britain, 61 km in the Isle of Man (3'gauge) and 1,365 km in Eire (3' gauge): Irish Peat Board.
Any improvement on these figures?

[dario]

I should be somewhat disappointed, as I received no help.
But I am happy to have found the website fo Volk's Electric Railway: www.volkselectricrailway.co.uk
They are rebuilding it!
They deserve a standing ovation!
Ciao from Dario Romani

[DSY011]

Hi Dario,
Good to see you posting again. Sorry I did not see your post asking for help on narrow gauge railways. I don't know a lot about British Narrow Gauge, but I have had to pleasure of driving on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in the English Lake District. The line is about 7 miles long and has a long history. You can read about the railway and see photos at http://www.ravenglass-railway.co.uk/
How is your model railway club going? Are you still using the same building to house the layout? We could do with some new photos of your club model and some more Italian Railway photos. ( Old Steam with a bit of information would be good)
Syd

[Trev]

The Irish peat railways are interesting, mainly because of the 'home made' nature of much of the rolling stock. Motorised caravans as railcars for instance. Plus a lot of the trackage isn't permanent. It's moved as the operations demand; a bit like a full size model railway. :D

[dario]

Hi Syd,
it's good to be back, as I was suffering from a hernia. I have been operated one month ago and now I am recovering. So it's fit that I resume duty here! Thank you for the information on narrow gauge.
I have not been attending the Rome MRC lately, but they told me they have installed the overhead, just for cosmetic appearance.
The next step is DCC.
The progress in DCC has gone so far these day that it is feasible to convert a big layout with conventional blocks, sectioning, multiple cabs, lots of turnouts and bunches of cables.
The major improvement is feedback from the locomotive, I reckon.
Well, see you later. Ciao from Dario

[Trev]

Good to hear that you're getting better Dario. Welcome back. :)

[John H-T]

Glad to hear you are back and recovering.

Our biggest narrow Gauge Project in the UK is the rebuilding of the Welsh Highland from Caernarfon to Porthmadoc in North Wales, which is making good progress. Have only made one visit to far but am looking forward to seeing the South African Garrets in action

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[dario]

Thank you Trev, Thank you John,
it is really exciting to hear that Garratts will run again. What gauge is the railway: 2' or 2'6" or other?
Ciao from Dario

[John H-T]

2'. the Stretch through the Aberglasslyn Pass, a fairly narrow gorge will be particularly spectacular.

John H-T.

[dario]

Browsing in my library, I picked up the GREAT BOOK OF TRAINS and opened it from the last page (407): Class NGG16 1-C-1+1-C-1, Welsh Highland Railway.
There is an artist impression of a red-painted garratt hauling a train above the gorge. Wonderful!
Ciao from Dario

[John H-T]

Browsing in my library, I picked up the GREAT BOOK OF TRAINS and opened it from the last page (407): Class NGG16 1-C-1+1-C-1, Welsh Highland Railway.
There is an artist impression of a red-painted garratt hauling a train above the gorge. Wonderful!
Ciao from Dario

I think that was the picture used in the original publicity for the project. There is now a beautiful painting of the Pass in Winter with a Garret blasting up, sometime in the near future. It is by John Austin who took four of the top five places in last years Guild of Railway Artists competion! The painting of the Pass took fifth place. I wouldn't mind having it but Austin originals command four figure sums ( pounds stirling)!

Best wishes,

John H-T

[Stopem]

The Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway is a 2ft 6in gauge, ex-industrial railway operating between Sittingbourne and Kemsley Paper Mills in Kent, UK.

The Railway has one of the oldest, pre-stressed concrete structures in the UK - Milton Regis Viaduct - which is almost a kilometre long, linking Sittingbourne Viaduct station with Milton Regis Halt before the Railway crosses Church Marshes Country Park to Kemsley Down station between the paper mill and Milton Creek.

I'll post a separate thread in the main narrow gauge section and give the full history.

Only one of our locos has left the Railway and that was 'Premier', over 20 years ago, when she visited a model railway exhibition in Gravesend!

Our website is http://www.sklr.net

Cheers,

Paul

PS the steam railway at Whipsnade Safari Park has a lot of ex-Bowaters Railway locos and rolling stock from our line and the other UK 2' 6" line is the Welshpool & Llanfair in Wales.

[Midland Compound]

The Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway is a 2ft 6in gauge, ex-industrial railway operating between Sittingbourne and Kemsley Paper Mills in Kent, UK.



What is the latest regarding the closure and eviction notice ?

[Stopem]

As it stands, the Railway will close after the last train on Boxing Day and we have until the end of January to clear the Sittingbourne site.

We are back in negotiation with m-real, our landlords, but as you will appreciate, they are very sensitive talks so I can't say much more than that.

We've all got our fingers crossed!

Cheers,

Paul

[GBRf_66709]

I visited the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Railway on Boxing Day and got a few shots from both stations from the lineside, which can be found at the link in my signiature below. I'll upload some photos to the forum in the next couple of days along with some mainline stuff.

Fingers crossed that the S&KLR is saved. Will be a great shame if it does close.

[TRP]

Hi Dario. The other major narrow gauge news at the moment is the possible closure of the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Railway in Kent. This line is one of only three 2'6" gauge lines in Britain - the others are the Welshpool & Llanfair and at Whipsnade Zoo.
The current situation appears to be as follows: The land that the railway runs on belongs to the nearby paper mill which closed some years ago. The owning landlords - M-real paper - are trying to sell the land as a whole with no concession to the railway to allow them to buy / rent the strip of land that the line runs on, whilst the rest of the site is earmarked for development. However, the local council is backing the railway in their negotiations with M-real to find a solution that allows the railwy to continue to operate.
The last public train ran on December 26th 2008 and no services can be announced for 2009 while the negotiations are ongoing. The railway is having to plan for services starting at Easter, while also making plans to completely vacate the site if the outcome is that they cannot operate.
So, all up in the air at the moment, but I'll try to post again if there is any more news.

Regards,
Tony

[j0hn0]

I volunteered to help lay the WHR track through the Aberglaslyn pass, I can think of worse places to work :)

Now open to Hafod y Llyn, it is by far britains best narrow gauge line. Number 87 is their newest garratt and I rode on its first fee paying trip through the pass. You really cannot miss this railway. Then when you're done, go to the Festiniog to ride on the double fairlies.

Another I would suggest is the talyllyn. This was the first preserved railway in britain and chuffs its way up the lovely fathew valley. i spent many holidays as a kid on that railway.

I don't really like the narrow gauge railways in england, they are too much like toy trains. Welsh trains are an engineering solution, which to me is much more interesting.

[John H-T]

As posted elsewhere I rode the West Highland through the Aberglaslyn Pass on Monday ... fantastic.

Another great trip is the Vale of Rheidol from Aberystwydd to Devil's Bridge.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[steam for ever]

I must do that trip, was it good?

[Pesmo]

Just came back from a tour of Welsh Narrow gauge.

Welshpool & Llanfair - great little railway with good buildings, and interesting (Hungarian ?) rolling stock. A very tidy operation. Great fun riding on the open end lobbies of their unusual carriages. Scenary is good but obviously not up to the standard of the more famous Welsh routes to the north.

Tallylyn - what a fun little railway. Everyone there was so enthusiastic and smiling, great stations that look authentic. Climbs steadily into the hills. Rolling stock is good as are the Locos. Really liked this one.

Ffestiniog - what an amazing route, one continuous grade from Blaenau to the sea at Porthmadog. Unusual double Fairlie locos, that have brilliant grip even on the steepest sections where they happily pulled 11 full carriages while I was there. Route has Britains only spiral. Good stations that look authentic, shares mainline terminus with NR at Blaenau. Big Disapointment was level of crowding on the day I went, when people were unhappy as they couldn't sit with friends etc. Far too many coaches were block-booked to coach tour companies. Pick a quieter time of year to really enjoy this classic journey.

Welsh Highland - Has amazing potential and could eventually be as good as Ffestiniog. Facilities at Caernafon are disappointing given its status and position next to the castle, with just portacabins for a ticket office and toilet and no platform shelter from the rain for passengers. Has those lovely Garratts which are amazingly large and powerful so really impressive when they accelerate. Carriages are quite large in great condition and there is an onboard toilet and trolley service. Sadly the day I went last week the journey had to be abandoned before the real scenery started due to apalling weather (In August:eek: ) which caused serious track flooding. However, as a consequence I got to ride on that rarest of things, a train with a Garratt at each end, when they sent the thunderbird loco to rescue us :D so I will have to go back next year to enjoy the full five hour round trip to Porthmadog.

Vale of Rheidol - Wow what a great line. Starts in Aberystwyth from the station that it shares with NR. The first few miles follow the river and are almost routine Welsh countryside. However, this soon changes and the line gets higher and higher and you look down into the valley that it follows. The wooded valley really is spectacular and the line in the last few miles seems to sit on a shelf of rock that meanders along the high sides of the valley. The views are among the best in the UK and it really shows what an Engineering feat this line is. Its terminus is at Devils Bridge, from which there is time to visit the falls at the Devils punchbowl before returning. The Locos are in the best condition of any that I rode on this week, and the line ran remarkably smoothly with hardly a jolt. The line has two slight problems. The views are often spoiled by the trees; they have recognised this and there is a promise that this is being addressed in their literature. Also the facilities at either end of the line may be authentic Great Western tin structures, but they are not really up to the volume of people who use this line so could do with being made a little larger, their website also recognises this as well and promises future improvements. This was my favorite narrow gauge journey by some margin and I find it unusual that it is often overshadowed by some of the others up country in Snowdonia. You should visit this one.

Snowdon Mountain railway - something a bit different and very tourist oriented. Has experienced significant extra demand since the new Snowdon visitors centre at the summit has been completed. I would recommend that you catch the first train of the day like I did and buy your tickets in advance (a long and painful phone call where you are kept on hold is needed, which took nearly an hour) however, this avoids the long queues on the day and possibly being turned away at peak times. Only about 50% of the trains are steam and they always ran full. They are also quite cramped so tall people need to think where to sit. The views are as you can imagine really good, although low cloud often obscures the summit and hence the views. The visitors centre is fine, modern and warm and serves decent drinks and has good loos. Wrap up warm as at the summit it was only just above freezing the day I went and the carriages are not heated, so you need two layers and a coat in summer. Parking is expensive at a fiver, and the journey itself is not cheap either, but I am glad that I made it.

[John H-T]

Great review Pesmo. Would agree with all your comments especially the Vale of Rhiedol. Sorry you did not manage to complete the Welsh Highland. It really just get better the further you go especially from Snowdon Ranger onwards with the Aberglaslyn Pass as the climax. The last section down to Pothmadoc may be a bit of an anticlimax.

The Welshpool and Llanfairs is another gem and the Talyllyn has all the quality of a great vintage wine.

The Brecon Mountain Railway is worth a trip with interesting and different steam locos. Unfortunately the opperational steam engine was producing lots of smoke but not much movement! So it was diesel power on the day of my visist. Great sceanic ride.

The Corris Railway is really worth a visit and will become a great little line when they finish the extension. Very friendly and a great little line. They have competed their first new build staem loco and are now starting their second! Have built two nice replica coaches and are build at least two more. Good museum as well.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[Axe]

No one has mentioned the legendary Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in North Devon. Starting at Woody Bay station almost 1000 feet above sea level, the line is currently one-mile (1) in length and without a doubt the most scenic railway in Britain, providing passengers with a panoramic view across Exmoor and the Bristol Channel beyond.

Clicky here >>> http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/ (http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/)


Chris