The Heatherslaw Light Railway is a

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passenger carrying railway near

Ford, Northumberland Ford is a small village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, about from Berwick-upon-Tweed. The parish also includes Etal. History before 1513 Very little is known of the history of the area before the Norman Conquest in the 11th cen ...

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, close to the border with

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Founded by Neville Smith, the railway opened in 1989 on the Ford and Etal estate. It operates over a route from Heatherslaw to Etal Village, a return trip of . The railway operates an hourly service with steam trains (subject to availability) from March to October and diesel trains in February half-term. Steam hauled Santa Specials run on selected weekends in December. The passenger coaches include facilities for transporting wheelchairs and buggies, and a typical summer season eight-coach train can convey up to 90 passengers.

Motive power

The railway's first locomotive from its opening was a steam engine named "The Lady Augusta". Lady Augusta was nominally built by the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway but was subcontracted to Kirklees Light Railway and entered service in 1989. Lady Augusta became the spare loco when Bunty (see below) arrived. Although it was expected that Lady Augusta would leave the railway at the end of 2015 she was retained for occasional use and to cover periods of maintenance on Bunty. The second locomotive was a diesel hydraulic locomotive named "Clive" is used for works train. This was built on site at Heatherslaw by Neville Smith and Sid Ford and was rebuilt in 2018 with a partial rebody. In 2010, a third locomotive partially built by Neville Smith and completed by

Alan Keef Alan Keef Ltd is a British narrow gauge railway engineering company which manufactures, overhauls, and deals in narrow gauge locomotives, rolling stock and associated equipment. The Limited Company was formed in 1975 at Cote, Oxfordshire, Cote, ...

. The loco has been named "Bunty", Neville's nickname for his wife, Bernice. A new build diesel locomotive 'Binky' was built in house during 2015 becoming the railway's fourth locomotive and entered service at the start of 2016, Bunty will remain the main locomotive hauling passenger trains. Binky is used for February half-term trains and as the 'Thunderbird' loco.

Stations

The station at Heatherslaw features an overall roof covering one concrete-slabbed platform; turntable, a third line serves as a locomotive release road for engines to run round trains; there are also storage sidings and sheds, as well as a ticket office and shop. The station at Etal Castle has a simple terminal run round loop and a turntable. The provision of turntables at both ends of the line allows for the locos to always run facing forwards whilst on passenger trains.

Gallery

File:Heatherslaw Light Railway - geograph.org.uk - 270854.jpg, The Heatherslaw Light Railway in 1993. File:Railway turntable - geograph.org.uk - 913101.jpg, Diesel locomotive "Clive" on the turntable at Etal. File:10I07I2019 Heatherslaw Light Railway A5.jpg, Alan Keef 2-6-0TT 'Bunty' runs round the train at Heatherslaw Mill Station File:10I07I2019 Heatherslaw Light Railway C3.jpg, Alan Keef 2-6-0TT 'Bunty' being turned on the turntable at Etal Castle Station File:10I07I2019 Heatherslaw Light Railway C5.jpg, Alan Keef 2-6-0TT 'Bunty' stands on the turnable at Etal Castle Station and whistles prior to moving off File:10I07I2019 Heatherslaw Light Railway D3.jpg, Alan Keef 2-6-0TT 'Bunty' runs round the train at Etal Castle Station File:10I07I2019 Heatherslaw Light Railway E2.jpg, Alan Keef 2-6-0TT 'Bunty' at Etal Castle Station

References

External links

Heatherslaw Light Railway Company
{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2011 15 in gauge railways in England Heritage railways in Northumberland