Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Budleigh Salterton |
Locale | England |
Dates of operation | 1963–Present |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 18 in (457 mm) |
Length | 1,359 yards |
The Bicton Woodland Railway is a narrow-gauge railway running in Bicton Park Botanical Gardens in the grounds of Bicton House near Budleigh Salterton in Devon.
The line was built in 1962 as a tourist attraction for visitors to the house. Most of the rolling stock was acquired from the Royal Arsenal Railway, Woolwich, with two locomotives, Woolwich and Carnegie coming from that source, as well as seven goods wagons which were reduced to their frames and converted to passenger carriages. It opened to passengers in 1963. Originally locomotives and carriages had royal blue livery.
Additional rolling stock was acquired from the RAF Fauld railway and the internal railway of the LNWR Wolverton works.
In 1998, the Bicton Gardens were put up for sale and the railway put into hiatus. The new owners sold the line's existing stock, and in 2000 took delivery of a 5.5-tonne diesel-powered replica tank engine. The line's original equipment was purchased by the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills museum at Waltham Abbey. [1]
Number | Name | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Woolwich | Avonside Engine Company | 0-4-0 T | 1916 | 1748 | ex-Royal Arsenal Railway. Now at the Statfold Barn Railway |
2 | Bicton | Ruston and Hornsby | 4w DM | 1942 | 213839 | Built for the War Department storage depot at Lion Brickworks, Scalford |
3 | Carnegie | Hunslet | 0-4-4-0 DM | 1954 | 4524 | ex-Royal Arsenal Railway. Now at the Statfold Barn Railway |
4 | Sir Walter Raleigh | Alan Keef | 0-4-0 DM (steam outline) | 2000 | 61 | Custom built. First driven by Pete Cuffley in 2000. |
The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales.
The Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) is a five-foot, three-inch gauge heritage railway in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is operated by volunteers and runs passenger trains using steam and diesel locomotives, diesel railcars, and vintage carriages. The railway has approximately three miles (4.8 km) of track in a triangular-shaped layout, which connects the town of Downpatrick with the historical sites of Inch Abbey to the north and King Magnus’ Grave to the south. It also houses a museum of railway artefacts and rolling stock originating from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, dating from the 1860s to the 1980s.
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The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations. Most of the lines operated by the Victorian Railways were of 5 ft 3 in. However, the railways also operated up to five 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge lines between 1898 and 1962, and a 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge line between Albury and Melbourne from 1961.
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Ardkinglas House is a Category A listed country house on the Ardkinglas Estate in Argyll, Scotland. The estate lies on the eastern shore of Loch Fyne, and the house is located close to the village of Cairndow. Dating back to the 14th century and originally a Campbell property, the estate now covers more than 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) of rolling hills and landscaped parkland. The centre of the estate was Ardkinglas Castle until this was replaced by a new house in the 18th century. This house was itself replaced by the present Ardkinglas House in the early 20th century, designed by Sir Robert Lorimer for Sir Andrew Noble. It remains the property of the Noble family, and is open to the public on a limited basis. The woodland gardens are open all year round.