Could rediscovered wagons launch an 18in gauge museum?
TWO‘forgotten'wagons used on the internal 18in gauge system at the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway's Horwich Works have been rediscovered during the demolition of the erecting shop.
The £262 million Rivington Chase regeneration scheme was granted outline permission in 2015 for 1700 homes and associated retail and leisure space on the former industrial site. The wider locomotive works redevelopment is being masterminded by Bluemantle, a property company, alongside Bolton Council, Homes England, HKR Ltd., and Network Rail.
Current redevelopment on the site of the now mostly demolished works has provided scope for a new opportunity to provide a museum for what has hitherto been a relatively neglected part of UK railway heritage.
The last major British railway works to be established on a greenfield site, Horwich Works was established in 1883 by L&Y consulting engineer and director John Ramsbottom, who retired as LNWR locomotive superintendent in 1871.
Heritage plans
He advocated an 18in gauge internal transport system similar to that he had installed at Crewe.
Originally extending to 7½ miles, eight locomotives were built for it between 1887-1901, including 1887-built Beyer Peacock 0-4-0STs Wren – which is displayed in the visitor entrance to the National Railway Museum at York – and Dot, an exhibit in the award-winning Narrow Gauge Railway Museum at Tywyn Wharf. The other six engines were built at Horwich.
The Horwich system was used to move components around the works, and Wren was fitted with a strongbox on the tender for distributing wage packets. The first locomotive was withdrawn in 1930 and by 1948 Wren was the last, finally taken out of service by September 1961 and placed on static display inside the works.
The redevelopment's heritage plans have recently been released. Careful consideration was taken during the dismantling of the erecting and repair shops to preserve key artefacts, including the cast iron pillars once prevalent in the works buildings, and these will now be incorporated into the proposed playground and memorial parks dotted around the site.
More significantly, two original locomotive works buildings will be restored to their former glory.
Indicative plans have been proposed to transform the former millwrights shop into a mix of a heritage venue, community health and wellbeing centre, and a retail, food and drink hall.
The former pattern makers building is set to be renovated into a 166-space multi-storey car park within the existing building structure, open at roof level.
The original schematic proposals envisaged the acquisition on loan of ‘Lanky' 2-4-2T No. 1008 from the NRM and placing it within a covered structure in a plaza close to the millwright's shop.
However, it is now thought that the cost of moving the locomotive and housing it properly at Horwich would be too great, and would also take up a huge amount of potentially useful retail space – with little added benefit.
The two foundry wagons (of similar design to the one that formed the basis for Wren's tender) were found in the basement below the erecting shop, opening the door for another opportunity.
18in gauge museum?
Given their survival, the third being 1865-built LNWR 0-4-0ST Pet from Ramsbottom's Crewe Works system and now also displayed inside the NRM, along with the survival of other relevant artefacts at Crewe, Old Sawley and Waltham Abbey, there would be much potential for a museum of the 18in gauge works railway within the heritage sector of the site.
It has been suggested that funds for such a scheme could be raised by bringing Horwich Works Ruston Hornsby 4wDM ZM32 on a visit from the Steeple Grange Light Railway with suitable rolling stock on a temporary track.
The new-build Nipper currently under construction – as outlined in issue 239 of Hertiage Railway – could also be used on such a track, possibly in conjunction with a suitable newbuild passenger vehicle.
When compared with other projects currently in progress on the preservation scene, the cost of an 18in gauge works railway museum would be relatively modest and has the potential to be a great asset to the Horwich redevelopment.