Narrow gauge railway at Woodhorn (geograph 4713373)

Woodhorn Railway is a long railway on

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 structur ...

track. The line runs from

Woodhorn Woodhorn is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Newbiggin by the Sea, in Northumberland, England, about east of Ashington. In 1931 the parish had a population of 219. The village is sometimes identified with Wucestre, giv ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

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 ...

, to a restaurant in the car park of the QE2 lake.

History of the railway

In 1991, the Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives (Wansbeck Council) was given an ex-mining locomotive and three man-riding cars by the NCB, following the closure of Vane Tempest

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. It was decided rather than allow these vehicles to become a static exhibition, it would better serve the heritage of the community if they were made operational and allowed to develop their potential as a visitor attraction. Because of this, a volunteer group was formed to manage and build a railway on which the vehicles could operate. The line was built, being completed in 1994 and ran from the site of the present Museum, along the side of the QE2 lake, terminating at the platform known as Lakeside Halt. The railway was not operational in June 2021. A notice at the Lakeside terminus says that operations are suspended due to the track and running stock needing repairs. The track looks very solid but is overgrown by weeds and very rusty.

Locomotives

Black Diamond (Hunslet)

One of two current locomotives, the

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

is the line's longest serving machine. Delivered to Woodhorn in 1991, primarily as a static exhibit following the closure of Vane Tempest Colliery but is now the lead locomotive of the fleet. It has been renamed as the Black Diamond, out of respect for the industry in which he formerly worked because the name "Hunslet" is picked out on the radiator grill. It is painted in original livery of green and black. The locomotive was built by the

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 ...

in Leeds in 1975, weighing 9.5 tons, powered by a four-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine.

Edward Stanton (Schöma)

This locomotive came to the railway in 2008 and whilst it was built by

Schöma Schöma is a company based in Diepholz, Germany, specialising in the construction of small diesel locomotives. After Christoph Schöttler left his father's business, the :de:Diepholzer Maschinenfabrik Fritz Schöttler, Diepholzer Maschinenfabrik ...

in Germany, the railway acquired it after the construction of the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...

between England and France, meaning this locomotive is the youngest in the railway's fleet. Edward is a three-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine, weighing at around 4.5 tons. Originally in a white livery, but has since been repainted, and both doors and windows have been added for better safety and operation.

Rio-Gen

Rio-Gen was built in the UK by Hunslet, and was purchased in 2013 from Singapore.

External links

Railway's official websiteFacebook page
{{coord , 55.1898, N, 1.5496, W, region:GB, display=title 2 ft gauge railways in England