Rudyard Lake Steam Railway Locomotives
Our original steam locomotives were of the same 2-4-2 type and came from the same builder the Exmoor Steam Railway. However Merlin which was built 5 years after Excalibur is physically bigger. This means that it holds more coal and water and that two people can sit in the cab more easily. These two have been joined in 2005 by a sister engine 2-4-2T No.9 now called Pendragon and a new much larger 0-6-2T No.8 King Arthur.
The boiler pressure of the 2-4-2 tank engines is 150 pounds per square inch and the cylinders are 4 inch diameter with a 5 inch stoke. They have roller bearings on all the axles and weigh about 2 tons each. They have power to spare in pulling any train we wish and are very reliable and economical in use. It costs less per day to run one of the steam engines than the petrol engine.
This locomotive was built in 1993 and painted in green livery with the name River Churnet. It has was rebuilt in 2003 and renamed Excalibur and is repainted in a lined blackberry black livery. In service in 2010
Merlin with a short train
No.7 Merlin is painted dark blue It is in use in 2011
King Arthur is believed to be the most powerful conventional steam engine on this gauge of railway. It has cylinders 5.625 X 7.5 inches and a boiler pressure of 150PSI. It has been designed by the Exmoor Steam Railway specifically to pull the heaviest possible trains on the railway. It is a great success and is both economical and powerful.
This is a sister engine to Merlin in most respects but being slightly shorter and was painted maroon. It ran at Ashorne Hall in Warwickshire until that railway closed. It was changed to 10.25 inch gauge over winter 2005/6 and renamed. It entered service at Rudyard in March 2006 as Pendragon named after King Arthur's father Uther Pendragon. It had returned to the Exmoor Steam Railway for conversion on October 8th 2005.
Trial runs at Exmoor were successfully carried out on October 9th and complete trains from the Ashorne Hall railway were run for probably the final time. It finally returned to Rudyard on 5th March 2006 and is now in service. It ran the opposite way round to all the other locomotives. It is in service in 2011 but is now painted green and turned to match the other engines.
No.9 Pendragon waits for the next train
The steam locomotive Waverley is now resident on the railway. Built in 1950 by David Curwen and has run at Weymouth, Loughborough, Dinting and on Mull. Now owned by a small group of supporters.
Victoria a large tank engine from Mull is also now at Rudyard
To see more views and information on other trains linked to this railway click here.
A short length of dual gauge track has been laid at Rudyard so that our 7.25 inch gauge locomotives and equipment can run. There are 2 steam engines and 3 carriages available based on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales. These trains only run on special event days. The steam engines are
No.2 Dolgoch & No.4 Edward Thomas
Site Links
This is a 4W petrol locomotive built in 1969 by Mr. Terry Stanhope. The cab was lowered and it was repainted bright red. Removed from the railway 1/1/2006 for engine overhaul by Dave Cruickshank of Middlewhich and has been repainted in green. It returned on July 23rd 2006 and is in use on works trains
No.3 Sir Ernie
This is a 2-2-2 battery electric 'device' fashioned from an electric wheelchair and can haul a wagon or transport a person the length of the line
This is a 4W +4W diesel locomotive built in 1989 by a local contractor Mr. L. Smith of Leek. It has a Lister three cylinder diesel engine. It is probably the largest locomotive in existence on this size of railway. It is being overhauled and repainted in Summer 2007 and emerged in yellow livery in 2008.
The railway has 12 carriages available for services. All are painted signal red. .
The current carriage stock list is:
3 two compartment coaches from Exmoor
2 semi open 3 compartment articulated coaches plus one enclosed 3 compartment coach
1 semi open 16 seat coach
2 12 seat enclosed coaches, one 8 seat enclosed coach with guards comaprtment
1 semi-open coach with 16 seats
1 6 seat enclosed saloon coach- George
LTM Engineering services built our last three carriages and are recommended Click here for information
There are currently 3 bogie wagons and a brake van in use on maintenance work.
More traditional wagons are available so 3 open wagons and 1 Van are in use on the railway as well as the bogie wagons.
Rudyard Lake Railway annual Steam Gala is the opportunity for all the engines to run together with visiting steam engines
Timetable
Trains run on coloured days 11.00am to 4pm (3pm in winter)
Telephone - Office 01995 672280 Rudyard Station 01538 306704
www.rlsr.org
Copyright (c) rlsr 2010 . Registered in England 4056499
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