When it was originally constructed, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway had to make do with the cheapest route available, with trains following steep gradients and sharp bends while pulling heavy loads of passengers and goods up the valley. The original miniature locomotives provided by Bassett-Lowke were around a quarter of the size of mainline steam locomotives and were thus a little too underpowered to cope with the uphill struggle. The locos provided by Sir Arthur Heywood proved a little better, although their small boilers meant that they also ran out of steam quite frequently. It was only in the 1920s that the River Esk and River Irt, a pair of one-third scale miniature locomotives that later helped inspire the creation of Thomas the Tank Engine, started to run on the line, drastically improving matters. Many others, including the matching River Mite and Northern Rock have since followed, and this Entry lists the locomotives that you might conceivably come across somewhere on the line today, starting with the most commonly seen. The Entry exists simply to cover a few facts about each locomotive - for exhaustive statistics about the line's rolling stock, you're best off consulting The R&ER Stockbook, which is published by the railway's preservation society. Locomotives are steam driven unless otherwise stated.
River Irt
The oldest working 15-inch gauge locomotive in the world, the one-third scale River Irt was in fact created using the chassis of Muriel, a larger tank engine built by Sir Arthur Heywood in 1894. Designed to be the most powerful loco possible on a narrow gauge railway, Muriel served the Eaton Railway up until Heywood's death in 1916, eventually arriving at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in July the following year. The locomotive has been rehauled several times, but the most notable change was obviously in 1927 when it was renamed River Irt after one of the rivers that run into the sea at Ravenglass. The loco was the mainstay of the line for many years and continues to serve the railway painted in the mid green livery of the old Great Western Railway.
River Esk
While Irt is the oldest of the trains named after rivers, River Esk is arguably the original of the trio, having held its name ever since it was built in 1923 by Davey Paxman of Colchester Ltd. However, the Lentz poppet valves it was fitted with proved problematic, and the locomotive was rebuilt in 1928 by the Yorkshire Engine Company of Sheffield with a Poultney system that featured a separate chassis under the coal tender to give it the extra power needed to pull stone trains from the quarry. However, the arrival of petrol locos meant that the extra power wasn't needed, and the Poultney system was removed in 1931. The loco was out of service between 1940 and 1952 for refitting and was fitted with its current tender and boiler in 1970 and 1982 respectively. The loco is painted in the blackberry black livery of the old London and North Western Railway.
River Mite
The original River Mite was finished in 1928, having been built using parts from Sans Pareil, Colossus and Sir Aubrey Brocklebank - three scale model locomotives that had earlier served the line but were to be replaced by the three Rivers. However, the first Mite experienced problems and was taken out of service a short time before World War Two. The current River Mite was commissioned in 1967 by the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Preservation Society, and was built by Clarksons of York using the old Poultney chassis originally used by River Esk. The locomotive is painted Indian red.
Northern Rock
Based upon the designs of both River Esk and a locomotive of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway called Northern Chief, the Northern Rock is effectively the fourth locomotive of the trio already mentioned. Built in the workshops at Ravenglass, it first ran in 1976. Two similar locomotives have since been built at Ravenglass - they were despatched to the Rainbow Park in Shuzen-ji, Japan during the 1990s. Northern Rock is painted in the Muscat green livery of the old Highland Railway.
Bonnie Dundee
Built in 1900 by Kerr Stuart of Stratford, Bonnie Dundee was short enough to fit underneath the equipment at Dundee Gas Works, and worked there until the railway there closed in 1959. The locomotive was preserved by Ian Fraser until he donated it to the railway in 1976, when it was fitted with 15-inch gauge wheels. The locomotive was rebuilt in 1996 but still runs, being painted in the bronze green of the old North British Railway.
Lady Wakefield
Built at the Ravenglass workshops and finished in 1980, Lady Wakefield makes use of a Perkins diesel engine similar to that found in a dumper truck. The locomotive first ran on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway to prove that it could cope with pulling the early morning school train of 16 coaches. Lady Wakefield was named after the wife of the then chairman of the railway company. It is now painted a bright Direct Rail Services blue, having spent its earlier years in maroon.
Shelagh of Eskdale
Begun in 1955 at Heathcoates of Cleator Moor, this diesel locomotive was put on hold for some time while the railway's future was in doubt, but was eventually finished by Severn Lamb of Stratford on Avon in 1969. Originally making use of a Ford diesel engine, Shelagh of Eskdale was refitted with a Perkins engine in 1975. It currently runs with a two-tone green livery.
Silver Jubilee
Silver Jubilee is in fact an ordinary coach that was converted to a locomotive using a diesel engine in 1977. Two coaches and another coach/locomotive have since been painted to match, and the set was used to provide a shuttle service at the International Garden Festival Railway at Liverpool in 1984. The set are now used for winter and early morning services on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, with the coaches retaining the British Rail InterCity livery from their time in Liverpool.
Synolda
Essentially the same as Sans Pareil, the first ¼-scale miniature locomotive to work the 15-inch gauge line, Synolda was built by Bassett-Lowke in 1912 and was eventually rescued from Belle View Zoo in 1978. The loco now lives in the museum and only appears for demonstrations and special events. It is painted in the blue livery of Narrow Gauge Railways, the company which first took over running of the line when it was re-opened as a miniature railway.
Others
Here are some other locomotives that you may see, whether they are appearing for special events or demonstrations or are being used to tend to the line or shunt coaches:
Flower of the Forest - Built in 1985 at the Ravenglass workshops, Flower of the Forest resembles a short green coach with a chimney on top. It is in fact a steam locomotive, as can quickly be gathered on closer inspection.
Katie - Katie was built in 1894 by Arthur Heywood and served the railway shortly after its re-opening with a narrow gauge. Having survived the scramble for parts to make the original River Mite, this old steam locomotive is still in working condition, and is painted Heywood green.
Blacolvesley - Built in 1911 by Bassett-Lowke, Blacolvesley is unusual in that it looks like a steam engine but contains an internal combustion engine. It is painted malachite green.
Quarryman - The first of three locos based on a Fordson tractor engine and built by Muir-Hill of Manchester, Quarryman was built in 1927. Able to cope with the heaviest loads, the locomotive continued to pull relief trains once the quarries closed in 1953, but has resided in the museum since 1975, albeit in working condition.
Perkins - Another Muir-Hill tractor, Perkins was built in 1929 and was later given a mock steam locomotive outline for use when pulling passenger services. The 'Pretender' continued to work thus until 1975, being rebuilt with a diesel cab in 1984 and eventually re-entering service in 1990 to shunt coaches. It is now painted yellow and black.
Cyril - One of the many diesel locomotives built by RA Lister, Cyril was built in 1932 and has seen time both on a peat bog railway near Manchester and in a narrow gauge museum in Stockport. Quite tall compared to other locomotives, it is painted in Lister green.
Les - Another diesel loco by RA Lister, Les resembles a pillbox on wheels and is painted dark green with a cream stripe on the front.
Greenbat - Built by Greenwood and Batley of Leeds in 1957, Greenbat is a battery electric locomotive that was built for use on the 16-inch gauge railway of the Storrs Bridge Fireclay Mine, arriving at its current home in 1982 when the mine closed. It is painted dark green and is used for shunting.
ICL No.1 Bunny - Built by Francis Theakston in 1922, ICL No.1 consists of a cab and internal combustion engine, which although symmetrical can only be driven in one direction, and thus has a turntable built in so that the loco can run backwards.
Douglas Ferreira - Built in 2005 by TMA Engineering, this diesel loco is named after one of the railway's past managers. It is painted Indian red.
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