Blakesley Miniature Railway
Blakesley Miniature Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 0.5 miles (0.80 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 15 in (381 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minimum radius | Until 1909: 80 ft = 24.3 m After 1909: 100 ft = 30.5 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Signalling | yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Blakesley Miniature Railway was an 804-yard-long (735 m) 15 in (381 mm) gauge railway from
Location
The 15-inch (381 mm) railroad was less than half a mile (800 m) long and ran from Blakesley Railway Station on the standard gauge East & West Junction Railway to the power plant and cowsheds at the back end of the property. It served primarily for the transport of coke, but was also occasionally used for transporting passengers from and to the nearby station.[1]
History
The track was laid in 1903 by Charles William Bartholomew (1850–1919) on his estate at Blakesley Hall. He was a wealthy civil engineer and landowner, major shareholder of the Great Central Railway and the East & West Junction Railway (E&WJR), self-proclaimed squire of the communities of Blakesley and Woodend. It was inaugurated in 1903 with a Cagney steam locomotive. In the following year, 1904, another Cagney steam locomotive was temporarily used on the track, which is now on display at the Strumpshaw Hall Steam Museum in Norfolk. In 1905, the petrol locomotive Petrolia was built and put into operation. The route was extended in 1909 to the bungalow of the farm, while a large part of the circle and the wye were dismantled. The locomotive Blacolvesley was delivered on 11 September 1909. The Cagney was then lent to the Sutton Hall Railway.[2]
The track was extended in 1910 to the cowsheds and had subsequently a total length of 804 yards (735 m). The petrol locomotive Petrolia was rebuilt to look more like a steam locomotive. The Cagney locomotive was returned in 1914 by the Sutton Hall Railway. Charles William Bartholomew died on 29 April 1919. His heirs then tried to sell the Cagney locomotive in 1923. Either 1928 or 1929, the track section from the bungalow to the animal stables was shut down.[2]
After Charles William Bartholomew had died in 1919, his widow still used the trains occasionally "on
The Cagney steam locomotive and possibly Petrolia and some of the rails were sold in 1936 to the
The main line was used from 1942 to about 1944 with manually pushed
Locomotives
Name | Manufacturer[1] | Photo[2] | Remarks |
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Cagney | The carriages and trucks were modified with the help of Alex Wyatt | ||
Petrolia | Groom & Tattersall of Towcester | 'Petrolia' was unsuccessfully converted to a 0-4-4T steam outline loco by Bassett-Lowke in 1910, and this led to much animosity between Charles William Bartholomew and Henry Greenly. | |
Blacolvesley ( 4-4-4T ) |
Bassett-Lowke of Northampton | Preserved on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. Owned by Dr. Bob Tebb, Blacolvesley is the oldest workable internal combustion locomotive in the world.[2] It was built by Bassett-Lowke in 1909 utilising parts of Henry Greenly's Class 10 Atlantic locomotives. Originally, it was fitted with a NAG 12/14 h.p. engine, which was later replaced with an Austin 8 engine at Saltbur. However, the original transmission, gearbox and bevel drive all remain in use. |
References
- ^ a b c TFC and Dick Bodily: Blakesley. Archived 9 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine Update of 5 February 2019. Retrieved on 7 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g Dick Bodily: The Blakesley Miniature Railway. Archived 7 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine Update of June 2017. Retrieved on 7 February 2019.