La’al Ratty gala will celebrate 60 years of society operation
THE Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway is to host a celebratory gala on July 11/12 to mark 60 years since the line was saved from being closed and scrapped in 1960.
The event has been held over from 2020 when the pandemic forced lockdown and the cessation of all activities on the railway. Although scheduled to take place beyond the date when lockdown restrictions were scheduled to be lifted, the event has been designed to run in a Covidsecure way, in a similar manner to last autumn's Mid-Hants Railway steam gala, a runner-up in the Heritage Railway Association's Annual Award 2020 Most Innovative Fundraising Idea category, as reported last issue.
“Passengers can buy ‘a seat for the day and sit back and relax, taking in three round trips of the spectacular Lakeland line while the railway works hard to bring the locomotives to them,” said a railway spokesman.
“This arrangement will help with keeping compartments free from cross-contamination and will also give passengers the luxury of not having to chase around to find the next of eight locomotives scheduled to steam on their ‘to do' list!”
Origins
Today's 15in gauge line was created in 1915 by model maker Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke, who saw the closed original 3ft gauge Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway dating from 1875 advertised for sale in Model Engineer magazine.
It was bought and regauged as a base for testing miniature locomotives under fairly harsh operating conditions.
Closed during the Second World War, it was afterwards bought by the Keswick Granite Company, which closed the quarries in 1953, the standard gauge third rail that had been laid between Ravenglass and Murthwaite crushing plant to accommodate stone trains being subsequently lifted.
In the 1950s, despite the upsurge in postwar tourism, passenger services continued to lose money. After attempts to place the railway on the market, it was decided in 1960 to sell the railway by auction. Enthusiasts came to the rescue for a second time, with Midland
stockbroker Colin Gilbert, his associate Douglas Robinson and landowner Sir Wavell Wakefield joining forces with local people to form a new railway company backed by a preservation society.
The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society raised enough money for a third locomotive, Clarkson 2-8-2 River Mite, in 1966.
Constructed by Clarkson's of York, it was the first new-build steam locomotive of the heritage era.
New buildings were constructed at Ravenglass, including awnings rescued from local British Rail stations.
Operations
During the 60th anniversary event, three eight-coach trains known as Trains 1, 2 and 3 will run three round trips each, and be hauled during the course of the day by each of five different locomotives.
The locomotive pool will include River Mite, recently overhauled by John Fowler Engineering of Bouth, Cumbria, the society's other steam locomotive, 1929-built 4-6-2 Whillan
Beck (‘The Train From Spain'), and the world's oldest 15in gauge locomotive, River Irt (formerly Muriel of 1894).
In addition, two short trains (Trains 4 and 5) will be hauled over three trips each by smaller engines, including the line's museum resident, Heywood 0-4-0T Katie. In all, eight different locomotives, mostly steam, will feature.
There will also be opportunities of a guided tour around the recentlyrefurbished Pullman camping coaches at Ravenglass (see separate story), while visiting traction engines will be in steam each day. The Ravenglass Railway Museum will host a working model railway.
New for 2021, the Lake District National Park is constructing a viewing platform above Stanley Ghyll waterfall. This platform is due to open in late spring and will afford spectacular views of the falls from above. It can be reached by a 45-minute walk from Dalegarth station.
➜ More information is available at www.ravenglass-railway.co.uk