Alderney Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Alderney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | https://www.alderneyrailway.gg/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1847 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
British Admiralty | 1854–1923 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Channel Islands Granite Co Ltd | 1923–1940 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alderney Railway Co Ltd | 1980–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 3 mi (4.8 km) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track length | 2 mi (3.2 km) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Old gauge | 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) (1940-45) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Alderney Railway on Alderney is the only railway in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and the only working railway in the Channel Islands. (There is a standard gauge railway at the Pallot Heritage Steam Museum in Jersey, but this provides no actual transport link, only pleasure rides.) The Alderney Railway opened in 1847 and runs for about 2 miles (3.2 km), mostly following a coastal route, from Braye Road to Mannez Quarry and Lighthouse.
The railway is run by volunteers and usually operates during summer weekends and bank holidays.
The railway was built by the British Government in the 1840s and opened in 1847. Its original purpose was to carry stone from the eastern end of the island to build the breakwater and the Victorian era forts.
Queen Victoria used the railway on three Royal visits to Alderney. On the first visit with Prince Albert on 8 August 1854, the Royal couple rode on a horse-drawn railway tender.
There are two stations on the line: Mannez Quarry and Braye Road.
(The railway was, presumably, owned by some other department of the British Government from 1847 to 1854)
Name | Date built | Builder | Works No. | Wheels | Cylinders | Notes | Withdrawn |
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Veteran | 1847 | ? | ? | 0-6-0 | Inside | arr. 1847 | ? |
Fairfield | 1847 | ? | ? | 0-6-0 | Inside | arr. 1847 | ? |
Waverley | ? | Henry Hughes of Loughborough [1] | ? | 0-4-0ST | Outside | - | 1889 |
Bee | ? | ? | ? | 0-6-0T | ? | - | ? |
Spider | ? | ? | ? | 0-6-0T | ? | - | ? |
Gillingham | ? | Aveling and Porter | ? | 0-6-0TG | ? | arr. 1893 | 1893 |
No.1 | 1880 | Hunslet Engine Company | 231 | 0-6-0ST | Inside | arr. 1893 | 1923 |
No.2 | 1898 | Peckett and Sons | 696 | 0-4-0ST | Outside | arr. 1904 | 1923 |
This company took over the railway in 1923, together with locomotives No.1 and No.2. No.1 was returned to England and replaced by Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST Nitro.
No.2 and Nitro were commandeered by the Germans and are believed to have been shipped to Cherbourg in 1943 or 1944. The Germans lifted part of the standard gauge line and replaced it with a 600 mm gauge line, [2] worked by two Feldbahn 0-4-0 diesel locomotives.
The line was restored to standard gauge in 1947–1949 and the following stock was used:
Molly II is currently awaiting modification to her coupler system, so she can haul the London Underground stock. However, this cannot happen at the moment[ when? ] because she is not yet owned by the Alderney Railway company.[ citation needed ]
Sheds to house the engines and railway stock were built at Mannez quarry in 1997 and 2008 [4]
Notes
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were connected by a single gear wheel, but from 1825 the wheels were usually connected with coupling rods to form a single driven set.
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