2’ gauge in Derbyshire
Golden Valley Gala
21 August 2005
I had my first ride on the Golden Valley
Railway - and the Midland Railway at Butterley
- a little over ten years ago. On that occasion,
the 2' gauge line was quite short - just down to
the far end of the extensive Swanwick site.
The locomotive on that occasion was the
yellow Motor Rail, "Campbell Brickworks No.1",
60S364 of 1968. I seem to recall the trip was
rather hairy... Four years ago, I visited the line
again (see Dull plains - Golden Valley) - the 2' gauge line had
been greatly extended to its present length of nearly 1 mile,
down the trackbed of the Butterley Works plateway to the
Newlands Inn. Once more, we took a ride - hauled by the
yellow Motor Rail again - and made a mental note to revisit
when steam was operating on the line - hence our visit today.
We'd met "Pearl 2" before too - at the Amerton
Railway. The locomotive was built in 1997 to an
original design of messrs. Bagnall - an unusual
feature being the inverted saddle tank upon
which the boiler sits, giving the locomotive a
slightly odd box-like appearance from the front.
Pearl 2 was resident at Amerton for around 5
years, before owner / builder Allen Civil decided
to relocate her to the Golden Valley line.
We parked the car at Butterley, and took the train to Swanwick
Junction - an interesting journey that requires a trip to
Hammersmith, reversal, back through Butterley and Swanwick
junction non-stop, reversal again at Riddings (the other end of
the line), then back up to Swanwick where one can at last
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
detrain. We could have waited for the next steam
service - about 40 minutes - but a nicely restored
3-car DMU stood idling in the platform, due to
leave imminently - so off we went. The run to
Hammersmith and back, across the Butterley
Reservoir causeway, is pleasantly scenic. The run
down to Riddings, it must be said, would be
hugely improved by some judicious felling of
lineside trees and shrubs... The DMU didn't sound
quite right - it didn't stagger away from stops in the usual way. I
later realised it was one of the somewhat non-standard units
equipped with hydraulic transmission for the St. Pancras -
Bedford route - class 127.
We arrived at the narrow gauge line nicely in time for the 1pm
departure - which got us to the Newlands Inn in similar timely
fashion for lunch - probably the best value pub meal I've had for
some time. And apart from a quick sprint back to the station to
snap the freight, our meal just nicely filled the hour before the
next passenger departure.
Gala visitors must have been clearly identifiable
by the railway staff, who went out of their way
to show them "the works", so to speak - pride of
place being given to the magnificent new running
shed nearing completion, but also enabling closer
inspection of the various items of (mostly) rolling
stock dotted around the site. The collection of
narrow gauge stock is now quite considerable,
having recently been augmented by stock from
the former Museum of Army Transport at Beverley. Two of the
latter's locomotives saw action on the freight working (the
locomotives and stock of which changed with almost
bewildering frequency.) - a fine Motor Rail "Tubby" at
one end, and Ruston "Lyddia" at the other. As the train
passed through the yard, my wife commented that
Lyddia reminded her of those little cars that get towed
around by monster camper vans... I could see what she
meant.
The time to depart approached - we took a look around
the standard-gauge museum before following the
lineside path back to Butterley where, after a quick
drink, we departed for home after an excellent and
entertaining afternoon.
Links:
•
Golden Valley Light Railway
•
Midland Railway Centre
Golden Valley Gala
Pearl 2 on the passenger service - plus diesel-hauled
demo freights, with Motor Rail, Ruston (x2) and
Lister locos...
