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From Ratty

Current revision as of 16:32, 1 April 2008

The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway is a 15 inch gauge railway located entirely in the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, a county in the United Kingdom. The line is famous for once being the smallest public railway in the world, and a popular Lakeland tourist attraction, travelling from the Roman port of Ravenglass, around the base of Muncaster Fell, through the village of Eskdale Green to Dalegarth, near the village of Boot.

Steam engines haul trains for the majority of the year, and only January is considered to be a "closed" month. During high summer, there can be as many as sixteen trains a day in each direction, with seven or eight coaches on each train, capable of carrying many passengers to the heart of the Lake District.

The Line was built in 1875 to 3 foot gauge, but was closed in the 1910s. W.J. Bassett-Lowke found the line and decided to re-open it as a tourist attraction, to the 15 inch gauge that he pioneered, and from 1915, trains have never ceased running, except during the second world war.

In 2000, the railway celebrated its 125th anniversary with Ratty 125, and the following year, 125 years since the first passenger train was celebrated.

The Railway and its assets are owned and staffed by the R&ER Co. Ltd., but two locomotives and the majority of the workforce is provided by the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society Ltd, which was formed in 1960 to save the railway when it was put up for auction.

Stock List

The Current Locomotive Fleet

Operational Steam Engines

• River Esk
• River Mite
• Synolda (static display in museum)

Steam Engines under repair or overhaul

• River Irt (overhaul of chassis)
• Northern Rock

Steam Engines in storage

• Bonnie Dundee (at Windmill Farm Railway)
• Flower of the Forest (in museum compound)

Steam Engines under restoration

• Katie

Operational IC Engines

• Quarryman (stored in Irton Road shed)
• Perkins (permanent way duties)
• Shelagh of Eskdale
• Lady Wakefield (permanent way duties)
• Cyril (station pilot)
• Blacolvesley (stored in paint shop)
• Les (workshop pilot)
• Douglas Ferreira

IC Engines under overhaul

IC Engines in storage

• ICL No. 1 (stored in paint shop)
• Greenbat (stored - overhaul stalled)

Locomotives of the Past

• Sans Pareil
• Colossus
• Ella
• Muriel
• Sir Aubrey Brocklebank
• River Mite I

• ICL No. 2
• NG 41
• Royal Anchor
• Silver Jubilee Railcar

• Scooters

Coaching Stock Fleet

• Open bogie coaches - 166, 169, 269, 369, 469, 170, 270 and 370.
• Open/Guard bogie coaches - 271, 371, 287 and 199.
• Semi-open bogie coaches - 101, 108, 109, 116, 117, 124, 125 and 126.
• Semi-open/Disabled bogie coaches - 127, 128 and 129.
• Saloon bogie coaches - 102, 106, 107, 110, 111, 113, 114, 115, 119, 121, 122 and 136.
• Saloon/Disabled bogie coaches - 118, 123 and 137.
• Saloon/Guard bogie coaches - 103, 104, 112 and 120.
• Maxi Saloon bogie coaches - 131, 132, 134 and 135.
• Maxi Saloon/Guard bogie coach - 133.
• Maxi Saloon/Bar bogie coach - 130.

• Bassett-Lowke 4-wheel open coach - 10.
• Dawson 4-wheel semi-open coach - 32.
• Teak open bogie coach - 627.

Departmental Stock Fleet

• 4-wheel Flat Wagons - B, D, E, F, H, J, L, M and N.
• The Rail Bender & Weedkilling Wagon - I.
• The Santa Sleigh - S.
• The Tank Wagon & Snowplough - T.
• The Permanent Way Utility Van - U.
• The Flail Mower - Anita.
• The Man-rider - X.
• The Bogie Flat Wagon - W. Also known as BF1
• The Mess Coach - 105.

• The Stores Van
• The Heywood Open Wagons
• The Theakston Tippler Wagons

The engineering workshops have four wagons - a boiler flat, a flat wagon, a diesel engine overhaul frame and a hydraulic wheel press frame.

Rolling Stock of the Past

• The Bassett-Lowke four-wheelers. 1-13.
• The Heywood Saloons. 5 saloons, one differing from the others.
• The Heywood Opens. 4 open bogie coaches.
• The Locally-built four-wheelers. 6 4-wheel opens, getting roofs in the 1960s.
• The Dining Car. Became a Heywood saloon.
• The Sleeping Car. Became a Heywood saloon.
• The Luggage Van. Bogie, one of the original stock items.
• The Glass Coach. Saloon from the Sand Hutton Railway.
• The Jaywick Coaches - 101, 102 & 103.
• The Teaks. 1-6/27, 1-4/32, 1-4/33, 1-2/34, 1-2/35, 1-9/post war.
• The Bogie-Opens. 171, 186, 187 & 287. (Last three were the Golden Opens).

• The Heywood Open Wagons.
• The Heywood Bogie Wagon.
• The Theakston Wagons.
• The Wilkinson Wagons.
• The Theakston Tippler Wagons.
• The Bogie Granite Hopper Wagons.
• The Heywood-type Wagons.
• The Murthwaite-built Wagons.
• The Hudson Tipping Wagons.
• The Theakston Open Wagon.
• The Dynamometer Car.
• The Heywood Special Wagons.
• The Brocklebank Tipping Wagon.
• The Open Wagons. Wagons C and G.
• The Yellow (Mess) Van.

The Route

• Ravenglass (0 miles)
• Raven Villa (1/4 miles)
• Barrow Marsh (1/2 - 1 mile)
• Black Bridge (1 mile)
• Muncaster Mill (1 1/8 miles)
• Mill Race (1 3/8 miles)
• Mill Wood (1 1/2 miles)
• Miteside (1 5/8 miles)
• Miteside Loop (1 3/4 miles)
• Katie Caddy (2 miles)
• Wet Cutting (2 1/8 miles)
• Murthwaite Ground Frame (2 1/2 miles)
• Murthwaite Oak (2 1/2 miles)
• Murthwaite (2 3/4 miles)
• Horsefalls (3 miles)
• Rock Point (3 1/4 miles)
• Walk Mill Summit (3 1/2 miles)
• Tom's Crossing (3 3/4 miles)
• Black Bridge (3 7/8 miles)
• Irton Road (4 - 4 1/4 miles)
• Long Yocking (4 1/2 miles)
• The Chicken Run (4 5/8 miles)
• The Green (4 3/4 miles)
• Hollin How Bank (4 7/8 miles)
• Fisherground Crossing (5 1/4 miles)
• Fisherground Loop (5 3/8 miles)
• Fisherground (5 1/2 miles)
• Spout House Curve (5 3/4 miles)
• Little Cutting (5 7/8 miles)
• Gilbert's Cutting (6 miles)
• Beckfoot Smithy (6 1/8 miles)
• Beckfoot Quarry (6 1/4 miles)
• Big Stone (6 1/4 miles)
• Beckfoot (6 1/2 miles)
• Beckfoot Bank (6 5/8 miles)
• Dalegarth Cottages (6 3/4 miles)
• Dalegarth (6 7/8 miles)