Yaxham Light Railway is a

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 ...

light railway A light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more steep gradients and tight curves to reduce civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow ...

( heritage railway) situated adjacent to Yaxham railway station on the

Mid-Norfolk Railway The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway, one of the longest in Great Britain. Preservation efforts began in 1974, but the line re-opened to passengers only in the mid-1990s as part of the "new generation" ...

. It is located in the village of

Yaxham Yaxham is a village and civil parish in centre of the English county of Norfolk. The parish includes the village of Yaxham, together with the neighbouring community of Clint Green. Together, they lay some south of Dereham and west of Norwich. ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. The railway is listed as exempt from the UK Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2000.

History

Mr D.C. Potter opened the site's first narrow gauge line in the former goods yard in 1967. This was constructed for his Hunslet "Cackler", and the disused tracks of this line can still be seen from passing trains on the Mid-Norfolk Railway. In 1969 the loco was moved across the standard gauge line to the Yaxham Park Light Railway (YPLR), which ran for over in meadows beyond the station, eventually being replaced by today's Yaxham Light Railway.

Present day

The main running line is some long. It operates a collection of industrial railway equipment acquired over the years from quarries and other locations throughout the country. Passenger trains are usually hauled by a variety of vintage diesel locomotives.

Rolling stock

Steam locomotives * YLR No.1 – "Coffee Pot" – vertical boilered locomotive built at Yaxham * YLR No. 20 – "Kidbrooke" – W. G. Bagnall Ltd built 1917 (named after its service at

RAF Kidbrooke RAF Kidbrooke was a Royal Air Force base, situated in Kidbrooke in south-east London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The site was operational from 1917 to 1965 and was mainly used as a stores, maintenance and training facility. History Esta ...

) *

Kerr Stuart Kerr, Stuart and Company Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer in Stoke-on-Trent, England. History It was founded in 1881 by James Kerr as "James Kerr & Company", and became "Kerr, Stuart & Company" from 1883 when John Stuart was taken on as a pa ...

Joffre class No. 3010 - Sold to at a quarry at Carriers de la Vallee Heureuse, in France in June 1930. Imported by Rich Morris and displayed at

Gloddfa Ganol Gloddfa Ganol (also known as the Gloddfa Ganol Mountain Center) was a museum dedicated to the Welsh slate industry and narrow-gauge railways, situated in the Oakeley slate quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog. It opened in 1974 and closed in 1998 follo ...

. Moved to the Yaxham Light Railway, now awaiting restoration at the Statfold Barn Railway Diesel locomotives * YLR No. 2 – "Rusty" – Lister "Rail-Truck" built 1948 * YLR No. 3 – "Pest" – Lister "Rail-Truck" built 1954 * YLR No. 4 – "Goofy" – 1936

Orenstein & Koppel Orenstein & Koppel (normally abbreviated to "O&K") was a major Germany, German engineering company specialising in railway vehicles, escalators, and heavy equipment. It was founded on April 1, 1876 in Berlin by Benno Orenstein and Arthur Koppel. ...

with a Single Cylinder Crude Oil Engine * YLR No. 6 – "Colonel" – Ruston & Hornsby built 1940 * YLR No. 7 – Ruston & Hornsby 16 hp class, built 1934 * YLR No. 10 – "Ousel" – Motor Rail Ltd ‘20/28hp’ plate frame type, built 1937 * YLR No. 13 – "Warboys" - Motor Rail Ltd ‘20/28hp’ plate frame type, built 1940 * YLR No. 14 – "Army 25" – Ruston & Hornsby class ‘20DL’, built 1943 * YLR No. 18 – "Planet" – F.C. Hibberd & Co Ltd type 39, built 1962 * YLR No. 19 – "Penlee" – Hudson Hunslet 25 hp, built 1942. Ex-

* YLR No. 44 - Moes built c.1955 Yaxham Light Railway - geograph

Standard gauge goods wagons * GWR 126977 MOGO Cars Wagon, grounded body and former narrow gauge locomotive shed.GWR 126977 (body only) Motor Car Van built 1935
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References

External links

Archive version of Yaxham Light Railway websiteYaxham Light Railway on Facebook
{{coord, 52.65163, N, 0.95968, E, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(TG003101), display=title Heritage railways in Norfolk 2 ft gauge railways in England

History

Present day

Rolling stock

See also

References

External links