The Chasewater Railway is a former colliery railway running round the shores of

Chasewater Chasewater is a reservoir located in the parish of Burntwood and the district of Lichfield in Staffordshire, England. Originally known as Norton Pool and Cannock Chase Reservoir, it was created as a canal feeder reservoir in 1797. The reservoi ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is now operated as a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

. The line is approximately in length, contained entirely within Chasewater Country Park. The route, which forms a horse-shoe shape around the lake, passes through heathland, including a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

, and passes over a long

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tr ...

History

Prior to preservation, the line was part of the network operated by the NCB to serve the coalfields of the

Cannock Chase Cannock Chase (), often referred to locally as The Chase, is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is managed by Forestry E ...

area. The exchange sidings, where the colliery line connected with the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

, were situated about north of the current Brownhills West Station. Significant changes happened in 2002/2003 caused by the closure of the old Brownhills station, due to the building of the

M6 Toll The M6 Toll, referred to on signs as the Midland Expressway (originally named the Birmingham Northern Relief Road or BNRR), and stylised as M6toll, connects M6 Junction 3a at the Coleshill Interchange to M6 Junction 11A at Wolverhampton with ...

motorway. This led to the rebuilding of Brownhills West with significantly improved facilities, including a new carriage shed and heritage centre, and completion of the

Chasetown Chasetown is a village in the town of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England. It is split between the civil parishes of Burntwood and Hammerwich. History Chasetown developed in the mid 19th century as a coal mining village. At first the village wa ...

section of the line (the 'Chasetown Extension Railway' between Chasewater Heaths and Chasetown Church Street). In 2016 the Railway was awarded The Queens Award for Voluntary Services.

Stations

* Brownhills West * Norton Lakeside Halt * Chasewater Heaths (adjacent to

Burntwood Burntwood is a former mining town and civil parish in the Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England, approximately west of Lichfield and north east of Brownhills. The town had a population of 26,049 and forms part of Lichfield distr ...

bypass) * Chasetown Church Street The buildings at Brownhills West house Chasewater Railway Museum.

Rolling stock

The railway is home to a collection of

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

and

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s of mostly industrial origin, many with local industrial connections. Passengers are conveyed in ex- DMU cars and

British Railways Mark 1 British Railways Mark 1 is the family designation for the first standardised designs of railway carriages built by British Railways (BR) from 1951 until 1974, now used only for charter services on the main lines or on preserved railways. Foll ...

coaches, as well as

brake van Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard. The equivalent North American term is caboose, but a British brake van ...

s on gala days. The railway has also played host to various guest

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

from other lines. The railway also owns various vintage carriages, some dating back over a century. These, as well as other rolling stock, are accommodated in the Heritage Centre. Chasewater is also home to only preserved rake of MGR wagons in the UK. Currently there are 8 examples of various types at the railway with the hope to extend in the future to 10.

Locomotives

Chasewater Heaths Station - Chasewater Light Railway (geograph 4367493)

* Steam Locomotives **

Hawthorn Leslie R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The company was form ...

No. 2780 "Asbestos" built in 1909 (On display). **

W.G. Bagnall W. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England which was founded in 1875 and operated until it was taken over in 1962 by English Electric. History The company was founded in 1875 by William Gordon Bagnall. The majority ...

No. 2648 "Dunlop No. 6" built in 1940. (Operational, returned to service in 2017). **

No. 2842 "Kent Electric Power Company No. 2" built in 1946. (On display). **

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring gran ...

No. 9632 built in 1957. (Under overhaul). ** Neilson No. 2937 "Alfred Paget" built in 1882. (Under overhaul). **

Hudswell Clarke Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited was an engineering and locomotive building company in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History The company was founded as Hudswell and Clarke in 1860. In 1870 the name was changed to Hud ...

No. S100 built in 1949. (Under restoration). **

Peckett and Sons Peckett and Sons was a locomotive manufacturer at the Atlas Locomotive Works on Deep Pit Road between Fishponds and St. George, Bristol, England. Fox, Walker and Company The company began trading in 1864 at the Atlas Engine Works, St. George, ...

No. 917 built in 1902. (In storage). **

, No. 431 "Sheepbridge No. 15" built in 1895. (In storage) **

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds Central parliamenta ...

No. 3783 "Darfield No. 1" built in 1953. Operational, returned to service in 2021 (currently in the guise of local engine "Holly Bank No. 3"). **

No. 750 "Waleswood". Built in 1906. (The locomotive was completely overhauled at the NIRT until 2019, when it left for Chasewater on 1 September to become part of the operating fleet). *Diesel Locomotives **

North British Locomotive Company The North British Locomotive Company (NBL, NB Loco or North British) was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp, Stewart and Company (Atlas Works), Neilson, Reid and Company (Hyde Park Wo ...

No. 27656 built in 1957. (In storage). ** North British No. D2911 built in 1958. (Operational). ** BR Class 08 no D3249/08359 built in 1958. (Operational). **

Baguley Baguley ( ) is an electoral ward of the city of Manchester in Wythenshawe, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,794. Baguley is derived from the Old English words Bagca, badger, and Leah, clearing or meadow. Historically in Cheshi ...

No. 3027 "Bass No. 5" built in 1939. (Operational). ** Baguley No. 3410 " Marston, Thompson and Evershed No. 4" built in 1955. (Operational). ** Baguley No. 3590 "Bass No. 11" built in 1962. (In storage). ** Fowler No. 4100013 built in 1948. (Operational). ** Fowler No. 4220015 "Toad" built in 1962. (In storage). **

No. 6678 built in 1968. (Operational). ** Brush Bagnall No. 3097 built in 1956. (Under overhaul). ** Kent Construction and Eng Co. No. 1612 Planet built in 1929. (Operational). ** Ruston 48 No. 305306 "Ryan" built in 1952. (Under restoration). ** F.C. Hibbard Planet No. 1891 "Derbyshire Stone No. 2" built in 1934. (In storage). **

No. D615 built in 1938. (In storage). ** Bagnall No. 3119 "Hem Heath" built in 1956. (In storage). ** Bagnall No. 3208 built in 1961. (In storage). ** Kent Construction and Eng Co. No. 20 Planet built in 1926. (On long term loan to the National Brewery Museum). **

Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd (RSH) was a locomotive builder with works in North East England. History The company was formed in September 1937 when Robert Stephenson and Company, which was based in Darlington, took over the locomotive ...

8366/Bagnall No. 530003, "Myfanwy" built in 1962. (Operational). ** Thomas Hill No. 111C built in 1961. (Operational, overhaul completed 2021). ** Thomas Hill No. 01568 "Helen" built in 1976. (Operational). **

Simplex In geometry, a simplex (plural: simplexes or simplices) is a generalization of the notion of a triangle or tetrahedron to arbitrary dimensions. The simplex is so-named because it represents the simplest possible polytope in any given dimension. ...

No. 15097 (works number 1930) built in 1919. (Operational). ** Simplex No. 15099 (works number 2028) "Morris" built in 1920. (Operational). * Diesel Multiple Units ** BR Class 127 Centre coach no. 59603. (Operational, used as hauled coaching stock). ** BR Class 116 Centre coach no. 59444. (Operational, used as hauled coaching stock). ** Northern Rail Class 142 no. 142 029. (Currently under driver training)

Narrow gauge railway

Volunteers are working to establish a gauge

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller struct ...

close to the heritage centre.

References

External links

*
Chasewater Railway Museum

Chasewater Country Park
{{Coord, 52.6761, -1.9467, type:landmark_region:GB-STS, display=title Heritage railways in Staffordshire Lichfield District