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The Beeches Light Railway is a private
In 2019, Shooter announced that the Beeches Light Railway would close at the end of the year. It was planned to move the railway to a new, larger location, re-opening in Spring 2020. the railway remained in-situ.
The Beeches Light Railway – a private steam railway
Uploaded on 10 July 2011. Retrieved on 19 February 2016.
The railway's primary motive power is Class 'B' steam locomotive 778, was built by
Shooter owned also a replica
Beeches Light Railway - interesting vehicle.
The Geograph No 4111684.
The Beeches Light Railway is a private narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
railway in Steeple Aston
Steeple Aston is a village and civil parish on the edge of the Cherwell Valley, in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire, England, about north of Oxford, west of Bicester, and south of Banbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish populatio ...
, Oxfordshire, England, in the garden of Adrian Shooter
Adrian Shooter (22 November 1948 – 13 December 2022) was a British transport executive.
Career
Shooter joined British Rail in 1970 as a management trainee. He became maintenance engineer at Bletchley in the mid-1970s, then depot manager at ...
, the former director of Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains.
Chiltern Railw ...
. The line contains one station, Rinkingpong Road ( bn, রিনকিংপং রোড) at an elevation of above sea-level.
History
In 2019, Shooter announced that the Beeches Light Railway would close at the end of the year. It was planned to move the railway to a new, larger location, re-opening in Spring 2020. the railway remained in-situ.
Track
The nearly railway track with a gauge of was built between 2002 and 2004. It resembles a figure of eight, with a loop around the back garden and another around the front, where it crosses the main drive. An Indian style railway station and sheds are behind the house. The theme of an Indian railway is present throughout, including the name of the station ("Ringkingpong Road Station"), fare evasion signs citing Indian rupees, and some interior decorations as well. Although the railway is private, and not subject to rail regulations, it is run professionally by Shooter and some volunteers with railway rulebooks and regulations, and the steam engine has to be certified each year.Ian MansfieldThe Beeches Light Railway – a private steam railway
Uploaded on 10 July 2011. Retrieved on 19 February 2016.
Steam locomotive
The railway's primary motive power is Class 'B' steam locomotive 778, was built by Sharp Stewart
Sharp, Stewart and Company was a steam locomotive manufacturer, initially located in Manchester, England. The company was formed in 1843 upon the demise of Sharp, Roberts & Co.. It moved to Glasgow, Scotland, in 1888, eventually amalgamating wit ...
in 1888, works number 3518. 778 was built for to India's Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a narrow-gauge, gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about long. It c ...
. where it ran until either 1960 or 1962, when it was sold to Elliot Donnelley, a railway enthusiast
A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter (Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems.
Rail ...
in the US, who was the major shareholder in RR Donnelley Co, a large printer and publisher in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. After Donnelley died in 1975 the locomotive passed to the Hesston Steam Museum
Hesston Steam Museum is an outdoor museum operated by the Laporte County Historical Steam Society in Hesston, Indiana. The museum occupies 155 acres and is the home of four different gauge railroads along with numerous other pieces of steam powe ...
, where it stayed until it was bought by Adrian Shooter in 2002 and restored to working order.
Carriages
Two two modern replicas of the carriages used on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway are occasionally used to transport invited guests. Carriages to accompany the locomotive were commissioned fromBoston Lodge
Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog, Gwynedd in north-west Wales.
It has a station on the Ffestiniog Railway and is the loc ...
works.
Draisine
Shooter owned also a replica Ford Model-T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...
motorcar that he ran on the tracks. It is based on a modified car used by the USA railway to inspect tracks on the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad
The Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad (SR&RL) was a narrow gauge common carrier railroad that operated approximately of track in Franklin County, Maine. Former equipment from the SR&RL continues to operate in the present day on a revived, s ...
. The replica was commissioned from the Statfold Barn Railway
The Statfold Barn Railway is a narrow gauge railway based near Tamworth, Staffordshire and partially in Warwickshire, England. Founded by engineering entrepreneur Graham Lee and his wife Carol at their farm-based home, they originally designed wh ...
. It includes a jacking system that will lift the wheels free of the rails and allow it to be rotated on its axis in order to go the other way round.Chris AllenBeeches Light Railway - interesting vehicle.
The Geograph No 4111684.
Additional rolling stock
Stored in the railway shed is some rolling stock from the London Mail Rail, an underground goods railway line, which was used to transport letters and parcels between sorting depots before it was mothballed.References