Great Cockcrow Railway
The Great Cockcrow Railway is a 7 1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge miniature railway located at Lyne, near Chertsey, Surrey, UK.
It is open on Sunday afternoons from May to October inclusive, plus Wednesday afternoons during August.
History
This 7 1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge railway originated in 1946 when John Samuel started construction in the garden of his house,'Greywood', on the Burwood Park estate at Walton-on-Thames. With the help of a group of volunteers the Greywood Central Railway developed into one of the foremost of its type in the country until by 1962 a run of 3/4 mile was possible. From the first the line was properly signalled and ultimately worked to a timetable. Samuel's death in October 1962 threw the railway's future into doubt but the publisher, Ian Allan, purchased the line and, with the assistance of most of the GCR volunteers, a few of whom are still involved, moved it to its present site at Hardwick Lane, Chertsey. It reopened to the public on 14 September 1968 under the new name Great Cockcrow Railway, taken from Cockcrow Hill which rises on its south side.
Signalling
Prototypical working with full track circuiting and accurate signalling remains the key to the railway's operation. The two termini are controlled by semaphores while the whole of the main line is equipped with colour-lights, ten of these being automatic. The boxes at Hardwick Central and Everglades Junction are fitted with Westinghouse 'L' type frames with, respectively, twenty-three and thirty-one miniature levers. The former was once part of the 227-lever installation at Crewe South junction while the latter is the complete frame from South Croydon junction. The country terminus, Cockcrow Hill, has a 16-lever full-size 'knee' frame manufactured by the Railway Signal Company, probably around 1930. It came from the Waterloo terminus of the Waterloo & City line. Exactly as in full-size practice trains are offered and accepted between signal boxes by the use of Block instruments. Because of the complication of the area it controls, and there may be as many as six trains on the track diagram at once, Everglades Junction box is also equipped with a train describer to assist the signalmen, usually two on duty together, in keeping track of movements. The signalling system is all-electric, including the interlocking, semaphores being worked by solenoids sealed for outdoor use. All signals return to 'danger' when the train has passed into the next track-circuit section. Points have a mechanism powered by the very reliable Ford Escort windscreen wiper motor that moves the blades and then locks and detects them. No detection, no signal! The few sprung points are also detected to ensure closure after a train has passed through in the trailing direction. Two different routes are offered to the public, both running to about 1¼ miles. A named train, 'The Gladesman', operates once each working afternoon at 4.30 pm, covering both routes.
Locomotives
There are presently 29 steam engines and 5 instant start locomotives in the stud, all owned by individual members of the operating team. Six or seven can usually be seen on operating days, with several other types under construction by members.
Most of the steam locomotives are based on British mainline prototypes built to 1/8 scale. All four pre-Nationalisation companies are represented and locos from both pre-Grouping and BR 'Standard' eras are present, as well as some freelance types. The oldest,a North Eastern Railway class 'R1' (LNER D19) 4-4-0 was built in 1913 and is still in full working order. The smallest is a Bridget type 0-4-2T while the largest are the 'Pacifics',the oldest being the freelance Pacific built by Louis Shaw in 1927 and given the name 'Eureka' by Sir John Samuel in 1947, with others from the LMS, LNER and Southern companies, as well as British Railways. Engines of 2-6-0 and 4-6-0 wheel arrangement feature as do 'Atlanics' from both the GNR and LBSCR alongside 0-8-0, 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 freight engines. A comprehensive list follows.
Trains
Trains are generally made up of three 4-seater 'sit-in' bogie carriages to accommodate twelve people. The all-up weight of a train - without the engine - is estimated on average to be about 1¼ tons or 1270 kg. 'The Gladesman' is double-headed and is made up of six or seven carriages depending on demand. A varied collection of freight and engineering stock also can be seen.
List of Locomotives
Southern Railway
- 'MN' class 4-6-2 no 21C11, 'General Steam Navigation', 1993, Malachite Green:
- 'LN' class 4-6-0 no 850, 'Lord Nelson', 1985, Olive Green:
- 'S15' class 4-6-0 no 837, 1947, Olive Green:
- Ex-LBSCR 'H2' class 4-4-2 no 2422, 'North Foreland', 1981, Maunsell Green:
- 'U'/Rebuilt 'River' class 2-6-0 no 1803, 'River Itchen', 1936, Maunsell Green:
- 'Q' class 0-6-0 no 30541, 2000, BR unlined Black.
London & North Eastern Railway
- 'A3' class 4-6-2 no 2744, 'Grand Parade', 1990, Apple Green:
- ex-GNR 'C1' class 4-4-2 no 1442, 1988, GNR Grass Green:
- ex-NER 'R1' class 4-4-0 no 1239, 1913, NER Pea Green:
- 'K3' class 2-6-0 no 1935, 1974, Apple Green:
- 'K5' class 2-6-0 no 206, 1956 Wartime lined Black:
- ex-NER 'T2' class 0-8-0 no 1249, 1986 NER lined Black:
- Great Central Railway-type Freelance 4-6-2 no 1947, 'Eureka', 1927, GCR (Cockcrow) unlined green livery
Great Western Railway
- '7900' 'Modified Hall' class 4-6-0 no 7915, 'Mere Hall', 1952, BR Brunswick Green:
- '1400' class 0-4-2T no 1401, 1980, BR unlined Black.
- '1366' class 0-6-0PT no 1369, GWR unlined Green.
London, Midland & Scottish Railway
- '8P' class 4-6-2 no 46245, 'City of London', 1950, lined BR Red:
- '6P' class 4-6-0 no 6115, 'Scots Guardsman', 1989, LMS lined Red:
- '5MT' class 4-6-0 no 5000, 'Sister Dora', 1981, LMS unlined Black:
- '5MT' class 4-6-0 no 5145, 1991, LMS lined Black:
- '5MT' class 4-6-0 no 45157, 'Glasgow Highlander', 1997, 'Late' BR lined Black:
- '5MT' class 4-6-0 no 45440, 2004, 'Early' BR lined Black:
- '8F' class 2-8-0 no 8374, 1993, unlined Black:
British Railways
- '7MT' class 4-6-2 no 70054, 'Dornoch Firth', 2014, BR Brunswick Green:
- ex-'WD' class 2-10-0 no 73755, 'Longmoor', 1948, War Department unlined green:
Other steam locos
- Freelance 0-4-2T 'Alison', 2006, unlined Holly Green:
- Holmside-type 0-6-0ST 'Wensleydale' NCB no 684, 2012, lined GER blue
- Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-0ST 'Buttercup' no 10, 1987, Stewart & Lloyd Yellow
- Freelance 0-4-0 tender loco 'Lulubelle' no 1, year unknown, WC&PR lined Brunswick Green
Non-Steam
- LMS jackshaft 350hp 0-6-0 battery-electric shunter 'Winifred' no 11, 1958, War Department Black: (ex petrol mechanical).
- BR 350hp 09 shunter 'Wilfred' battery electric 0-6-0, BR Green
- GER steam outline tram no 135 'Livvy' 4wBE. 2010 LNER Black.
- BR Mardyke 'Deltic' 6w-6w petrol-hydrostatic no 55 007, 'Pinza', 1978, BR Blue.
- BR Hymek outline battery electric 4w-4wBE 'A B Macleod', 1982, GCR Blue
External links
Coordinates: 51°23′06″N 0°31′23″W / 51.3849628°N 0.5230629°W
