Churnet Valley Railway
The Churnet Valley Railway is a 5 1/4 mile (8.4 km) long standard gauge heritage railway based at Cheddleton station to the east of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire.
Early days
The North Staffordshire Railway Society was formed in the 1970s and bought the old goods yard at Cheddleton Station. Workshops were created there and the first locomotives were moved there in 1977, however British Rail were still using the adjacent railway to move industrial sand from a quarry at Oakamoor. The line was finally closed in 1988 and the society began to arrange for the purchase of the stretch from Oakamoor to Leekbrook Junction.
The first trains ran on the preserved line in 1996.
The route
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Trains start from Cheddleton station and run along the valley of the river Churnet through varied scenery, to Consall station. Consall is sandwiched between the Caldon Canal and the river.
Nearby, there is a nature reserve and the 'Black Lion' public house overlooking the railway, canal and river. This pub is unusual in that there are no public roads to it. Access is on foot via the canal towpath or the railway. The only "road access" is through farm property which is not owned by the pub and is not usable by the general public. Consall is now fully signalled and the passing loop allows two trains to run on special events and bank holiday Mondays.
Beyond Consall lies Kingsley and Froghall station. At Froghall, a short walk away, is the canal wharf which is the site of some historic lime kilns.
On the return journey, trains run non-stop through Cheddleton and on to Leek Brook station through one of the longest tunnels on a preserved railway. Here, they reverse and run back to Cheddleton. There is no passing loop or run-round loop at Cheddleton and although there is a run-round loop at Leek Brook station, there is no usable platform.
Beyond Kingsley and Froghall station, the line continues to Oakamoor sidings which are used for storage of equipment. On the 21st September 2008, the first public service for 20 years left Oakamoor with a shareholder's special. The whole of the line was once double track, but its doubtful it will return to that state.
Stations
Future
The society hopes to extend the railway to Leek in the North and beyond Alton Towers in the South as finances allow.
Locomotives
- Operational Steam locomotives
- Lima 2-8-0 Class S160 no. 5197 (current boiler ticket expires in November 2008)
- Resident Steam locomotives Currently Elsewhere
- LMS 0-6-0 Class 4F No. 44422 (current boiler ticket expires in 2015)
- Hunslet 0-6-0ST No. 3777 ( Running In pseudo-BR Livery as 68030 ) (On loan to the Strathspey Railway)
- BR 2-6-4T Class 4MT no. 80136 (boiler ticket expired in September 2007, currently at Crewe Heritage Centre awaiting overhaul.
- Other Steam Locomotives
- Operational diesel locomotives
- BR Bo-Bo Class 33 no. 33102
- BR Co-Co Class 37 no. 37075
- BR Co-Co Class 47 no. D1842 (Currently at Crewe Heritage Centre for 25th Anniversary Celibrations)
- Yorkshire Engine Company 0-4-0 "Brightside"
- Yorkshire Engine Company “Janus” Class 0-6-0 "Roger H. Bennett"
- Diesel locomotives undergoing overhaul or restoration
- Stored diesel locomotives
- Operational Diesel Multiple Units
- Diesel Multiple Units undergoing restoration
- BR Class 104 TCL M59137
- Diesel Multiple Units awaiting restoration
- Electric Multiple Unit (used as Coaching stock)
- BR Class 423 no. 3822 (used in push and pull services with Class 73)
Supporting groups on the CVR
- 4F Loco Fund (44422) [1]
- BRCW Group (DMUs) [2]
- Churnet Valley Model Railway Department [3]
- Churnet Valley Railway Telecomms Department [4]
- ST4 Group (D1842 & 47524) [5]
External links
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