Whistlestop duo steal the show at Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway gathering
MORE than 80 staff and volunteers from eight UK narrow gauge railways attended the La’al Locomotives at La’al Ratty mini gala weekend on the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway on November 5/6.
The event was held 59 years after a similar gathering in 1963 shared ideas, skills and expertise, supporting the development of the then embryonic heritage railways.
Two specially constructed locomotives from the Whistlestop Valley Railway (Kirklees Light Railway) – 1987-built 2-6-2T Fox and 0-6-4T Badger – were the star attractions, taking pride of place pulling trains alongside the beautifully restored 125-year-old 0-4-0T Katie currently based at the Ravenglass Railway Museum.
All three are very different from the regular services that run on the 15in gauge Lakeland line. Fox and Badger both have many features that were developed from modern steam ideas advocated by the famous Argentinian engineer LD Porta.
River Irt, River Mite, River Esk and Whillan Beck from the home fleet also ran, and there were extra ‘early morning’ return journeys each day, heading directly to Murthwaite yard for a special behind-the-scenes tour with a volunteer guide from the museum.
The yard is the location of the remains of the stone crushing plant that processed stone quarried in Eskdale until the 1950s.
Stuart Ross, the line’s general manager for visitor experience, said: “The heritage railway industry is a major contributor to the British tourism economy and thrives on co-operation between different organisations. It was a superb weekend meeting colleagues from around the narrow gauge world.
“It was a good opportunity to showcase some of our new additions, such as our Director Saloon
Ruth. Not only that, the visiting engines and
Katie put in some very impressive performances and certainly won the hearts of our visitors”.
RER driver Phil Brown added: “A lot of thought has clearly gone into the Kirklees engines.
“They were both very smooth and efficient at getting the trains up our challenging railway. Very impressed indeed.”