The Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust operates a long

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 ...

line at

Hunsbury Hill Hunsbury Hill is an Iron Age hill fort two miles (3 km) south-west of the centre of the town of Northampton in the county of Northamptonshire.

, south-west of

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

. The line is mainly dedicated to freight working, featuring many sharp curves and steep gradients which were typical of the

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 ...

, but rides are available in a variety of vehicles including a converted brake van.

Restoration

In the last few years the site has undergone restoration with of line being regraded and relaid in rail and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

sleepers ''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin H ...

, along with the restoration of 2 locomotives and brake van to enable passenger carrying as well as other restoration projects being undertaken. Operationally the railway has received full operating clearance from the HMRI to allow running on the relaid section of the 1st quarter of the mile of the route.

Locomotives

Steam

* "Belvedere"

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...

geared A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic pr ...

vertical boilered tank engine No. 9365. Built in 1946. On static display. * "Musketeer" Sentinel geared vertical boilered tank engine No. 6369. Built in 1946. On Static Display. *

Peckett and Sons Peckett and Sons was a locomotive manufacturer at the Atlas Locomotive Works on Deep Pit Road between Fishponds and St. George, Bristol, England. Fox, Walker and Company The company began trading in 1864 at the Atlas Engine Works, St. George, ...

No. 2130. Built in 1951. Operational, returned to steam in 2016 at the

Battlefield Line Railway The Battlefield Line Railway is a heritage railway in Leicestershire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : It runs from Shackerstone (Grid ref ) to Shenton (), via Market Bosworth, a total of . Shenton is near Bosw ...

and moved to NIRT in 2020.

Diesel

Planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

. No. 3967 - Operational. * No. 2087

Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & S ...

. Awaiting restoration. *

Hudswell Clarke Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited was an engineering and locomotive building company in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History The company was founded as Hudswell and Clarke in 1860. In 1870 the name was changed to Hu ...

No. D697. Undergoing restoration. *

Ruston & Hornsby Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow gauge railway, narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of ...

88DS No. 321730 "Mabel" - Used as a flatbed vehicle, chassis only. *

88DS No. 394014. Built in 1956 - Awaiting restoration. * Fowler 0-4-0DH No. 4220001 "Charles Wake" built in 1959 – Operational. * Fowler 0-4-0DE No. 4200016 "Flying Falcon". Built in 1962 - Undergoing overhaul Fowler diesel 4220001

* Fowler 0-4-0DH No. 4220022. Built in 1947 - Undergoing restoration.

Former Locomotives

*"Waleswood"

No. 750. Built in 1906. The locomotive was completely overhauled at the railway until 2019, when it left the railway on 1 September for the

Chasewater Railway The Chasewater Railway is a former colliery railway running round the shores of Chasewater in Staffordshire, England. It is now operated as a heritage railway. The line is approximately in length, contained entirely within Chasewater Countr ...

Rolling stock

*B950061 20-ton LMS (BR-built) brake van – operational. Built in 1950 to an LMS design. *B490310 12-ton LNER (BR-built) open wagon. Built in 1952. *M407942 12-ton LMS open wagon. Built in 1937. *321734 Ex Ruston "88" underframe *No. 330 Nordberg trackmachine *Joseph Booth steam crane *S56134 SR pillbox brake van *BR86803 BR GUV Mk1 converted to crane runner wagon

Multiple units

Electric

*BR Class 411 4CEP TSO nos. 70284, 70296 and 70510 *BR Class 415 4EPB unit 5176 last surviving unrefurbished unit - reformed as 3EPB, Built in 1954. BR Class 415 4EPB unit 5176 pic1

*BR Class 422 4BIG TRSB 69304 unit 2260 *BR Class 4DD DMBC no. 13004 (formerly of unit 4002 later renumbered 4902 owing to the number 4002 being reallocated to the second

British Rail Class 445 The PEP Stock were prototype electric multiple units used on British Rail's Southern and Scottish Regions during the 1970s and early 1980s. They were forerunners of the British Rail '' Second Generation'' electric multiple unit fleet. Thr ...

) BR Green. Built in 1949. BR Class 4DD DMBC no

References

External links

* ee face book nirt
Northamptonshire Ironstone railway trust
Heritage railways in Northamptonshire Railway museums in England Museums in Northamptonshire {{England-rail-transport-stub