Abbey Light Railway
Abbey Light Railway | |
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Engine shed on Bridge Road
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Route length: | 1.2 km |
Gauge : | 610 mm ( 2 foot track ) |
The Abbey Light Railway (ALR) was a narrow-gauge railway with a track width of 2 feet (610 mm) in Kirkstall , Leeds , West Yorkshire , England . Built by railway enthusiasts, the route ran from Bridge Road near the local industrial park to the grounds of Kirkstall Abbey . It ran on Sundays and public holidays in the warm season.
history
In 1974, Peter Lowe, engineer and lecturer at Kitson College , Leeds, applied for permission to build a railway in Kirkstall. From 1976 the line was built from scratch by a group of railway enthusiasts, most of whom were members of the Ffestiniog Railway Association . Track material was acquired second-hand from the Ffestiniog Railway, and after a few years the line stretched ¾ mi (1.2 km) between Kirkstall Abbey and Bridge Road, Kirkstall. She crossed Kirkstall Goit, an artificial branch of the river Aire created as a mill ditch , on a bridge with brick abutments.
Initially, the line was operated purely privately, but in 1986 public transport permission was granted. This was carried out every Sunday from spring to autumn and on most bank holidays .
In 2006 an extension of the route to the Armley Mills Industrial Museum was planned. This would have required crossing the Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal . The project was not carried out.
After Peter Lowe died in October 2012 after a short illness, the business was closed. He was supposed to be resumed the following spring, but without the chief engineer it became difficult to obtain the necessary insurance. His widow was reluctant to sell the rolling stock and the infrastructure. Most of the locomotives and much of the rest of the material were sold to the Welsh Highland Railway in Porthmadog . The demolition work on the route began in February 2013.
Locomotives
The Abbey Light Railway had the following locomotives:
number | Surname | Built by | design type | Construction year | Serial number | Mission history |
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1 | Loweco | Lister | 0-4-0PM 6HP | 1942 | 20449 | New to Kelby Sand and Gravel Co. Lincolnshire. Later at Hoe Hill Tile works, Barton-on-Humber . First ALR locomotive. Now situated in Poppleton Community Railway Nursery, York. |
2 | Atlas | Hunslet | 4wDM 20HP | 1943 | 2465 | New to Ministry of Defense, then to Strensall Brick and Tile Works, later to Alne Tile Works at Selby . |
3 | Odin | Motor Rail | 4wDM 20HP | 1934 | 5859 | Initially used as a rental locomotive, then to Ham River Grit Co. Ltd, later to Joseph Arnold & Sons, Leighton Buzzard . Now at Gelert's Farm Works (WHHR), Porthmadog. |
4th | Vulcan | Ruston | 4wDM 44 / 48HP | 1942 | 198287 | New to Harpur Hill, Buxton, then sold to the Royal Air Force at Burtonwood . Later bought by Yorkshire Water for use in Chellow Heights and Thornton Moor near Bradford. Repurchased by Yorkshire Water and now on the Bolton Abbey & Embsay Steam Railway. |
5 | Ruston and Hornsby | 4wDM 20HP | 1946 | 235654 | New to Elsham Lime Co., sold to Barrow Haven Tile Works, Lincolnshire. Informally called Little Ruston at the ALR . | |
6th | Druid | Motor Rail | 4wDM 20HP | 1941 | 8644 | New to Ministry of Defense. Sold to Alne Tile Works. Bought from the Creekmoor Light Railway in Poole . Largely rebuilt at ALR, only frame, wheels, gears and nameplate taken from the original. Now in Gelert's Farm. |
7th | Orenstein & Koppel | 4wDM 11HP | 1935 | 5926 | New at Cape Universal Building Products Ltd., Uxbridge. Preserved in the Chalk Pits Museum, Amberley. Now in Gelert's Farm. | |
8th | Robert Hudson Ltd | 0-4-0 20HP | 1924 | 39924 | New to Lanarkshire county council, Cairngryffe Quarry near Biggar. | |
9 | Muir Hill | 0-4-0 20HP | 1925 | 110 | New to Meeth Clay Works, Devon; thence to RP Morris, Dartford, Kent. Now in Gelert's Farm. | |
10 | Baguley | 0-4-0 10HP | 1917 | 736 | New to War Department Light railways, then back to Baguley's, sold to Bristol Corporation water works, Blagdon reservoir. Now in Gelert's Farm. | |
11 | Baguley | 0-4-0 10HP | 1917 | 760 | New to APCM Ltd., Bidwell Clay pit, Dunstable, then to AJ Keefe, Aylesbury, then to RP Morris, Dartford. | |
12 | George | Greenbat | 4wBE | 1957 | 2848 | New to Chemical and Insulating Co. Ltd, Faverdale, Darlington, thence to R. Stewart, North Yorkshire. Now with Ripon & District Light Railway (private railway). |
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e Jonathan Brown: Miniature Leeds railway on the move . Yorkshire Post . February 19, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
- ^ Rolling stock - Abbey Light Railway .
literature
- Thomas, Cliff: The Narrow Gauge in Britain & Ireland . Atlantic Publishers, 2002, ISBN 1-902827-05-8 .
Web links
- Geoff A. Cryer: Abbey Light Railway . May 11, 2003. Retrieved September 10, 2015. - Pictures from a 2003 visit
- David Malton: Abbey Light Railway . Retrieved September 10, 2015. -
Coordinates: 53 ° 48'59 " N , 1 ° 36'13" W.