South Tynedale Railway

South Tynedale Railway
Polish locomotive Nakło at Kirkhaugh Station
Terminus	Lintley Alston
Commercial operations
Name	South Tynedale Railway
Original gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Preserved operations
Stations	3
Length	3½
Preserved gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Commercial history
Closed	1976
Preservation history
1976	Former branch line to Alston closed.
1983	South Tynedale Railway opens to the Public, for the very first time.
1986	STR reaches Gilderdale
1996	Gilderdale-Kirkhaugh extension completed
1999	STR extends to Kirkhaugh, Gilderdale station closed after 13 years
2009	STR latest extension granted
2012	STR returns to Lintley Halt
2013	STR marks 30 years of operating trains along the line

South Tynedale Railway
South Tynedale Railway  South Tynedale Railway shown within Northumberland
NY696495
List of places: UK • England • Northumberland

The South Tynedale Railway is a preserved 2 ft (610 mm) heritage railway in England and is England's highest narrow gauge railway. The route runs from Alston in Cumbria to Lintley in Northumberland via the South Tyne, Gilderdale and Whitley Viaducts.

The railway is operated by a charity, The South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society, which was registered in 1983.^[1]

Passenger trains operate on the railway Spring through to Autumn and attract 40,000 people to the district every year. Information about exact dates are on the railway's web site www.south-tynedale-railway.org.uk^[1] Special trains operate including Santa Special trains on certain days in December each year. Although no Santa trains ran in 2011 as volunteer efforts were put into completing the extension to Lintley in time for the 2012 season, they ran again in 2012 on two successive weekends, 15–16 and 22–23 December. In 2013 Santa trains are planned for 14–15 and 21–22 December.

At Alston station there is a cafe and gift shop both operated by the railway company. Free car and coach parking is available adjacent to the station which is located about a quarter-mile north of the town on Hexham road.

The present line is now currently more than three and a half miles in length and there are plans to extend the line by a further mile and a quarter miles to Slaggyford. The STR is built on the southern end of the track bed of the disused 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Haltwhistle to Alston Line, which formerly connected with the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway at Haltwhistle.

The standard gauge branch line was closed down by British Rail on 1 May 1976 and the track bed is mostly intact. Exceptions: at Lambley where the station house and garden are in private ownership: near Haltwhistle where construction of the A69 Haltwhistle by-pass road severed the trackbed on the bypass itself and on an adjoining secondary road. The Society has in its principal aims a hope to completely reopen a branch line railway to Haltwhistle.

Developments

Confirmation was received in November 2009 that a grant of £100,000 had been awarded by the Groundwork UK Community Spaces programme which will be used to fund the restoration of three historic railway bridges on the former Haltwhistle to Alston line.^[1] Northumberland County Council's west area committee also granted consent for a completely new station at Lintley and the new extension to Lintley opened to traffic on 1 April 2012.^[1] Rails extend across Lintley viaduct for a distance of about 200 metres from the new station to form a headshunt for works trains.

The extended line from Kirkhaugh to Lintley Halt was officially opened in Saturday 12 May 2012 by Lord Inglewood, a long-time friend of the railway society.

On the same day Cumbria County Council handed over documents confirming a Community Asset Transfer of the Society's leased land in Cumbria. Work to gain a similar status in Northumberland is ongoing with Northumberland County Council.

In September 2012 the Heritage Lottery Fund made an award that allows development work on a full bid for the Slaggyford extension to proceed. The bid will also include innovative 'green' initiatives to update the railway's buildings, equipment and infrastructure in and around Alston. The final outcome of the bid is anticipated in January 2014.

In December 2012 a serious wash-out of a retaining wall about 50 metres north of Alston Station threatened to stop the popular Santa trains. Quick work by the railway's track gang to skew the main running line saved the day. The STR is left with a significant fund-raising issue to fully repair the 160-year-old wall, restore the lineside footpath and return the main line to use. Temporary repairs were completed by mid-January 2013 whilst fundraising efforts continue to effect a longterm and full repair. The main line was moved back to its proper alignment before the 2013 season began.

During January 2013 the railway society's ambitions that, one day, trains will again run all the way from Alston to Haltwhistle moved a couple of steps closer. British Railways Board (Residuary) Ltd. improved upon and changed an earlier offer that now transfers a 7-metre wide strip of land to the society. The land runs parallel to the Alston bay platform at Haltwhistle mainline station and provides sufficient space for proper station and run-round facilities for narrow gauge trains. This important step allows the society to approach Network Rail for agreement to use its land alongside the platform and the platform itself. Additionally a small parcel of land that allows access to the station area from the Alston Arches Viaduct will be made available to the railway society.

In early February the South Tynedale Railway joined the Heritage Skills Initiative and an engineering skills trainee will join the South Tynedale's mainly volunteer workforce in March. The one year project is in partnership with the North of England Civic Trust backed by a bursary and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The scheme is specifically aimed at overcoming skills shortages in traditional engineering crafts. The new trainee will work alongside the railway's skilled volunteer engineers looking after the railway's locomotives and rolling stock. The new member of the railway's team will concentrate on developing a new works train to support the STR's specialist permanent way team as they prepare for work on the mile and a quarter extension from Lintley Halt to Slaggyford from 2015.

At the Annual General Meeting in November 2013 the railway society's chairman signed agreements that hand responsibility for the viaducts at Lambley and Haltwhistle to the society. They were formerly owned by the now defunct North Pennine Heritage Trust. This important acquisition lays down further building blocks towards the society's aim to eventually reopen the full length of the branch line.

On 4th February 2014 the STR announced a £5.5 million development project that includes just over £4.2 million awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.(source HLF and STR press information releases)

This biggest ever investment by the South Tynedale Railway will protect and enhance railway and industrial heritage in the remote and beautiful upper South Tyne Valley. It will also build long term environmental sustainability into the Railway’s business plan, open up employment opportunities, develop a stronger education programme for visitors of all ages and expand skills training in the charity’s volunteer and paid workforce.(source material - bid papers by STR to HLF for funding)

In addition to acknowledging the tremendous encouragement given by the team at the Heritage Lottery Fund in developing a successful bid, Brian Craven, STR Deputy Chairman said,

“Some time ago we realised that, if we are to continue to build on the success of thirty years of development, we had to do new and different things. We have to attract new visitors and more of them to the lovely South Tyne Valley and our Railway. When we reviewed how we work we recognised that we were spending far too much on resources like power, fuel and other essential utilities and we must do something about that. Our customers tell us that our excellent volunteers provide a great visitor experience. So we must ensure that, in turn, our volunteers get the most they can out of their hobby. Alston is a remote town and the STR is important to its economy. We are keen to work with others to do still more to extend quality employment opportunities to local folk. This project will fulfil all of these aims and more”.

What, then, is included in this exciting project? There are several large capital developments. Firstly there is a mile and a quarter of railway to build from the temporary terminus at Lintley to reach the village of Slaggyford in Northumberland. There the STR will transform the station site by repairing the wooden buildings, reconstructing a replica North Eastern Railway signal box with equipment rescued from Battersby in North Yorkshire, and reinstalling level crossing gates to ensure both road and railway are safe to use. The village will benefit too. New fibre optic cabling essential for the Railway’s signalling needs, could bring fast broadband to the village through joint work with locally based Cybermoor.

In Alston the grant contributes towards long term repairs to the 160 year old historic wall that kept the rivers Nent and Tyne away from the Railway. It was storm damaged a little over a year ago and temporary repairs will now be made permanent ensuring another century and more of life.

Alston Station will get a new roof spanning platform and tracks and a second platform for the first time in Alston Station’s history. Along with all of the STR’s other buildings, except for the Grade 2 Listed Station House, the new roof will be fully fitted with solar pv panels. This major electricity generation scheme will cut fuel bills and leave power enough to heat newly super-insulated workshops. The Railway has also obtained two almost new battery-electric locomotives from Transport for London. They will be regauged to fit the STR’s two feet wide track. Powerful enough to pull passenger coaches, they will be used on the building work. The greatest good is that their batteries will be charged from the Railway’s own solar power supply.

An historic steam engine built by Hunslet in Leeds in 1937 and housed in Alston since the 1990s will be sent away for overhaul. When it returns it will be equipped to burn waste wood briquettes and will be a rare example of a ‘sustainable energy’ steam engine. It will join another Leeds engine ‘BARBER’ that is returning to Alston in 2014. Together these two will be the first British-built steam locomotives on the line and will be used alongside British diesel and electric engines.

There will be an enlarged education programme based at an expanded heritage centre at Alston Station emphasising opportunities for children and adults to learn about our industrial heritage and its effects on the Pennine landscape. Importantly, the project gives scope to develop and train the volunteers that run the Railway and make the best use of the huge variety of skills they bring with them and pass them on to the next generation.

Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund North-East, Ivor Crowther, said: “South Tynedale Railway is an important reminder of our transport heritage and is a fantastic example of the bygone and glorious age of steam. We were really impressed with the dedication and passion that the South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society demonstrated towards this conservation project and also its commitment towards nurturing volunteers, providing educational sessions to local schools and passing on valuable knowledge and skills. We know that this project will make a huge difference to the local area and visitors will be enjoying the site, and the wider natural heritage of the North Pennines, for many years to come.”   A project team, including a Railway Manager, is included and recruitment will start soon. A new cafe will allow expansion of the catering business and offer local employment year round. Rain water collection will fuel our coal burning steam engines. There is more that the project will deliver, many just small but important changes to the way the business will work.

Passenger rolling stock
Trains are made up daily depending on predicted passenger numbers. There are four all-steel open-ended gallery coaches built by a contractor in Alston, two wooden-bodied coaches and two brake vans constructed in the railway workshops. Additions to the fleet in 2011 were an all-steel buffet coach, originally built by Gloucester Carriage and Wagon for Sierra Leone Railways, and re-gauged from 750mm to 610mm for use at Alston, and a re-gauged former Romanian steel coach now converted to be fully accessible for disabled passengers.

The locomotive situation in late 2013 is as follows: Naklo – Polish built 0-6-0 of 1957 is out of ticket and dismantled; Helen Kathryn – private owner Henschel & Son 0-4-0 of 1948 is in ticket and operational; Thomas Edmondson – Henschel 0-4-0 of 1918 in ticket but not operational due to wheel-bearing problems presently under repair; Carlisle – Hunslet Engine Company 0-4-2 – out of ticket – funding possibility for full overhaul and return to traffic by 2016; BARBER – Thomas Green & Son 0-6-2 – at works for full overhaul and back into traffic in 2014; Diesel No 4 – operational; Diesel No 9 – operational; Diesel Cumbria – not operational at present but under repair at Alston with return to use planned; Diesel No 18 – entered traffic in October 2013.

2013 Season
The timetable shows four return trips from Alston to Lintley. Outward trains leave from Alston at 1045, 1215, 1415 and 1545 hours. Return trains leave Lintley 35 minutes later. Trains run from late March until mid November but not every day. There are a series of special events spread over the year.

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  Thomas Edmondson runs round the train at the old Gilderdale Station (closed in September 1999)

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  The locomotive shed at Alston, around 1990

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  Polish locomotive 'Nakło'.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South Tynedale Railway.

• South Tynedale Railway – Official website