Beeches Light Railway

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Beeches Light Railway
The Beeches Light Railway at Ringkingpong Station
The Beeches Light Railway at Ringkingpong Station
Route of the Beeches Light Railway
Route of the Beeches Light Railway
Route length: 1.5 km
Gauge : 610 mm ( 2 foot track )

The Beeches Light Railway is a private narrow-gauge railway in Steeple Aston , Oxfordshire in the garden of the estate of Adrian Shooter , former director of Chiltern Railways .

Route

The slightly more than 1.5 km narrow- gauge track with a track width of 610 mm (2 feet ) was laid between 2002 and 2004. The route is reminiscent of an 8 with a loop in the front and back of the garden and a level crossing over the main driveway. The Ringkingpong train station as well as the engine sheds and wagon sheds are behind the house. They are not only built in the Indian style according to the station name, but also have Indian signs and a stylistically appropriate interior decoration of the station building.

Although the railway is operated privately and is not subject to the rail traffic rules, it is operated professionally by Shooter and some volunteer supporters according to rules and regulations. The boiler of the steam locomotive is examined once a year by a sworn expert in order to obtain the operating license.

steam train

The steam locomotive on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in deep Oxfordshire

The history of the steam locomotive used on the Beeches Light Railway goes back over 120 years: The steam locomotive is one of the 34 DHR class B machines built . It bears the number 19 of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) and the nationwide All-India number 778 and was originally supplied with the serial number 3518 by Sharp Stewart to the Indian DHR, which was founded in 1878 and operates between Shiliguri and Darjiling . It was in service there until 1960 and was then sold to a railroad friend in the USA. It belonged to Elliot Donnelley , the managing director and major shareholder of RR Donnelley Co , one of the largest printing and publishing houses in Chicago . After Donnelley died in 1975, the steam engine was bequeathed to the Hesston Steam Museum . There she stood, until Adrian Shooter acquired it in 2002 and restored and with a Tender added.

The locomotive still has its original boiler from 1889, which is the oldest locomotive boiler in Great Britain by 50 years. But there are two older ones in India. The reasons for the long durability are that it is made of cast iron , which is much more corrosion-resistant than steel, and the excellent maintenance during its 70 years of use in India.

Two passenger wagons and two modern replicas of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway wagons made in the Ffestiniog Railway's Boston Lodge Works are occasionally used for passenger transport. The locomotive and carriages can occasionally be found as guests on other railways, such as the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway and the Ffestiniog Railway.

Draisine

Adrian Shooter's Draisine based on a Ford Model T on the Beeches Light Railway

Shooter also owns a replica of a Draisine based on a Ford Model T , with which he drives the narrow-gauge railway. The original is a passenger car converted into a rail vehicle, which was used to inspect the route on the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad . The replica was commissioned from the Statfold Barn Railway . He can be jacked up in order to turn him around at the destination of the journey.

More vehicles

In the carriage shed there is a London Mail Rail vehicle , an underground train used to transport letters and parcels between several London post offices.

Web links

Commons : Beeches Light Railway  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kounteya Sinha: Love for Darjeeling toy train makes Briton buys off world's oldest surviving locomotive . In: Times of India , September 18, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016. "Model number 778 ... run it in his personal garden ... tracks over 1.5 km is in the form of a loop ... Ambassador car that runs by the train when it chugs through his garden to give it a real feel of Darjeeling. ... station that looks exactly like the original Sukna station " 
  2. ^ A b c Ian Mansfield: The Beeches Light Railway - a private steam railway . Uploaded July 10, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ One of the original "B Class" Sharp Stewart Steam Locomotive Comes Home. ( English ) In: Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society . Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  4. ↑ Alice Yang: Interview: Adrian Shooter (English) , Felix Online. November 11, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2014. 
  5. ^ The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society: DHR B class Number 19 celebrates its 120th Birthday.
  6. ^ Dan Hearn: Rail boss with a special train set (English) . In: Oxford Mail , May 28, 2010. Retrieved December 10, 2015. "three-acre estate at Steeple Aston, near Bicester." 
  7. ↑ Bibek Debroy: Locomotive number 778 . In: Business Standard , January 1, 2016. “Owns Beeches Light Railway. Indeed, it operates out of his residence in Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire. " 
  8. ↑ Anuradha Sharma: An Indian Relic in Oxfordshire (English) . In: Forbes India , August 14, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2015. “Shooter bought an“ arts and crafts ”style house in Steeple Aston village, shipped in a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) steam locomotive and set up his own private railway — the Beeches Light Railway — in his three-acre garden. " 
  9. ^ R Dimmick: New Build - Darjeeling Himalaya Railway Carriages ( English , brochure) In: Boston Lodge Engineering . Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways . P. 9.11. May 4, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  10. ↑ Kounteya Sinha: Oldest toy train chugs through British garden (English) . In: Times of India , September 19, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016. “Two replicas of DHR carriages were constructed at the. These and the locomotive run in Adrian Shooter's private garden railway. " 
  11. ↑ Kounteya Sinha: A Darjeeling joyride in a British garden (English) . In: Times of India , September 20, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016. 
  12. ↑ July fun for all the family on the rails! (English) . In: rail.co.uk , May 27, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2016. “Model T railcar… based on a Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railway (Maine, USA) Superintendent's Inspection Car. ... built for Adrian Shooter at the Statfold Barn Railway in 2008 and resides at Adrian's private Beeches Light Railway " 
  13. ↑ Chris Allen: Beeches Light Railway - interesting vehicle. The Geographer, No. 4111684.

Coordinates: 51 ° 55 ′ 25.5 "  N , 1 ° 18 ′ 31.7"  W.