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The Great Whipsnade Railway, also known as The Jumbo Express, is an English,
Construction of the railway started in 1970 and the initial line opened on 26 August 1970. The line provided rides within the animal enclosures and an additional attraction in its own right. Originally called the Whipsnade and Umfolozi Railway, it began as a short line running from near the children's zoo. It was later extended to form a loop through several paddocks. The railway is now over a mile in length.
The line was primarily equipped from the Bowater's Railway (now Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway) in
The train normally travels clockwise around the loop. Leaving the station the train travels east under the foot bridge and passing the children's play area and children's farm on the left. At this point the track crosses the road. There are no barriers but the crossing is controlled by an automated warning system. Past the crossing the track begins to curve to the right and descend slightly, passing the emu paddock on the right and the train yard, including the engine shed, on the left. Visitors can sometimes catch a glimpse of a steam or diesel locomotive sitting in the shed, or the diesels Hector and Victor in a siding adjacent to the running track.
The track then curves more sharply to the right before straightening up and passing the first elephant paddock on the left. The route then crosses a wide footpath used to move the elephants between paddocks. This crossing is equipped with barriers. The Route continues roughly straight and level past the elephant and Asian rhino paddocks on the right before crossing over a road and entering into the area of the zoo known as passage through Asia. Here there are no barriers between the train and the animals, which consist of Bactrian Camels, Yak and Pere David Deer.
The track then crosses the big
Image:EXCELSIOR and SUPERIOR A2.JPG, Steam locomotives 'Excelsior' and 'Superior' at Whipsnade Central Station
Image:Kerr Stuart No 2 Excelsior Solo.jpg, 'Excelsior' moves light engine between the yard and Whipsnade Central Station
Image:Kerr Stuart No 4 Superior Whipsnade Central.jpg, Fresh from a heavy general overhaul rebuild, 'Superior' at Whipsnade Central Station
Image:Hectorandvictor.jpg, Diesel locomotives ''Hector'' and ''Victor''
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo website
The Sittingbourne and Kemsley Railway website
Whipsnade & Umfolozi (Great Whipsnade) Narrow gauge railway
{{Heritage railways in England 1970 establishments in England Railway lines opened in 1970 Heritage railways in Bedfordshire 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in England
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 ...
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
that operates within ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, formerly known as Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, is a zoo and safari park located at Whipsnade, near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. It is one of two zoos (the other being ZSL London Zoo in Regent's Park, London) that are ow ...
in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Overview
Construction of the railway started in 1970 and the initial line opened on 26 August 1970. The line provided rides within the animal enclosures and an additional attraction in its own right. Originally called the Whipsnade and Umfolozi Railway, it began as a short line running from near the children's zoo. It was later extended to form a loop through several paddocks. The railway is now over a mile in length.
The line was primarily equipped from the Bowater's Railway (now Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway) in Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...
, Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, which was the last steam-operated narrow gauge industrial railway
An industrial railway is a type of railway (usually private) that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics, or military site. In regions of the world influenced by British ra ...
in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. The railway is now equipped with four steam locomotives and five diesels (although one has been sold to the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway). All passenger trains are steam hauled and services commence at midday, with train departures every half hour with the last train departing Whipsnade Central one hour before Whipsnade Zoo closes for the day.
The route
The train normally travels clockwise around the loop. Leaving the station the train travels east under the foot bridge and passing the children's play area and children's farm on the left. At this point the track crosses the road. There are no barriers but the crossing is controlled by an automated warning system. Past the crossing the track begins to curve to the right and descend slightly, passing the emu paddock on the right and the train yard, including the engine shed, on the left. Visitors can sometimes catch a glimpse of a steam or diesel locomotive sitting in the shed, or the diesels Hector and Victor in a siding adjacent to the running track.
The track then curves more sharply to the right before straightening up and passing the first elephant paddock on the left. The route then crosses a wide footpath used to move the elephants between paddocks. This crossing is equipped with barriers. The Route continues roughly straight and level past the elephant and Asian rhino paddocks on the right before crossing over a road and entering into the area of the zoo known as passage through Asia. Here there are no barriers between the train and the animals, which consist of Bactrian Camels, Yak and Pere David Deer.
The track then crosses the big Ha-ha
A ha-ha (french: hâ-hâ or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view ...
and turns to the right passing through the deer park (also known as Cut throat paddock) and the Przewalski horse
Przewalski's horse (, , (Пржевальский ), ) (''Equus ferus przewalskii'' or ''Equus przewalskii''), also called the takhi, Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is a rare and endangered horse originally native to the steppes of Ce ...
s on the right. Here the track slopes downhill before passing through the tunnel.
Emerging from the tunnel into round close paddock the train passes the Africa paddock on the left which contains Gemsbok, Ostrich and common Zebra and Lake Daedelus on the right. Here the track curves more sharply to the right and climbs uphill back to the station level crossing central avenue just before reaching the platform. This level crossing has gates and is manned by platform staff during train operation. The Whipsnade Central station has an old-fashioned signal box which can be seen when leaving or approaching the station platform.
Locomotives
Steam locomotives
Diesel locomotives
Battery Locomotives
See also
*British narrow gauge railways
There were more than a thousand British narrow-gauge railways ranging from large, historically significant common carriers to small, short-lived industrial railways. Many notable events in British railway history happened on narrow-gauge railways ...
* Umfolozi River
The Umfolozi River (also uMfolozi, Imfolozi or Mfolozi) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, a province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black (''Imfolozi emnyama'') and White Umfolozi (''Imfolozi emhlope'') Rivers near the southeaste ...
* Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve
References
External links
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo website
The Sittingbourne and Kemsley Railway website
Whipsnade & Umfolozi (Great Whipsnade) Narrow gauge railway
{{Heritage railways in England 1970 establishments in England Railway lines opened in 1970 Heritage railways in Bedfordshire 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in England