The Rudyard Lake Steam Railway is a

ridable miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

and the third railway of any gauge to run along the side of

Rudyard Lake Rudyard Lake is a reservoir in Rudyard, Staffordshire, located north-west of the town of Leek, Staffordshire. It was constructed in the late 18th century to feed the Caldon Canal. During the 19th century, it was a popular destination for day ...

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 ...

Overview

The railway runs for on the track bed of an old

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire. The company was bas ...

line. After the NSR line closed down, a small

narrow gauge 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 structu ...

train ran on the site for two years before moving via Suffolk to Trago Mills in Devon. The current line started in 1985 and is gauge, and operates to a timetable. It was built by John Eastman of Congleton working on his own over a period of ten years. In October 2000, he sold the railway to Rudyard Lake Steam Railway Ltd, who have developed it since that date. The railway was purchased by the Leek and Rudyard Railway on 18 December 2015. This company owns the assets of the former

Isle of Mull Railway The Isle of Mull Railway was a gauge line, long, which ran from the ferry terminal at Craignure to Torosay Castle, on the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. Originally it was known as the Mull and West Highland Railway (Mull and We ...

and has plans to combine the two railways at Rudyard. Trains run at weekends and

bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or h ...

s from March to November, with more regular services from Easter to October and daily during school holidays. The railway is a member of

Britains Great Little Railways Britain's Great Little Railways is a company, created in 1994, to provide an umbrella organisation for the owners and operators of the miniature and narrow gauge railways in Great Britain and the Isle of Man. It represents railways with gauges be ...

and is a member of the

Heritage Railway Association Heritage Railway Association (HRA) is an umbrella organisation representing the majority of the heritage and tourist railways, railway museums, steam centres and railway preservation groups in the UK and Ireland. Groups and individuals involved ...

Route

The railway runs for on the track bed of an old

line. It operates from

Rudyard railway station Rudyard railway station served Rudyard, Staffordshire and was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) in 1850 on the Churnet Valley line. In the village the NSR also owned the Rudyard Hotel as part of the company's efforts to develop ...

to the dam, then along the side of the lake to terminate at Hunthouse Wood, about a mile south of the site of the old

Cliffe Park railway station Cliffe Park railway station was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) in 1905 on the Churnet Valley line to attract visitors to Rudyard Lake (actually a reservoir), which the NSR were trying to develop as a leisure and tourist attracti ...

Locomotives

Pendragon on the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway

Many of the locomotives were named by the former owner's wife after the legends of

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...

: No 9 ''Pendragon'' (another Exmoor Steam Railway ) left the railway in 2019 and is now at the Astbury Light Railway. A fleet of 13 carriages and a wide variety of goods wagons are also used. A further enclosed brake carriage was constructed in 2011 and brought into service in August and another 12 seat enclosed coach added in December 2012. The carriages from the closed Isle of Mull Railway are also slowly being brought back into service after restoration.

Facilities

Rudyard Station comprises Platform 1 with a shelter where the trains depart. A footbridge links this to Platform 2 where the cafe, a large covered picnic area,

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...

and toilets are located. Platform 2 is, in fact, the original

platform built by the

. The original flower beds and retaining walls are clearly visible. At a higher level than platform 1 is a good vantage point. To the South end of the station are the engine shed, water tower, coal bunker, storage shed and workshop. The railway offers ''learn to drive a steam train'' courses, of either a half or full day for individuals or groups. Children's parties are hosted and the Platform 2 Cafe provides cold refreshments all year around whenever the railway is running.

References

Sources

* Hanton, Peter. The Heywood Society Journal No. 34, Spring 1994 * Williams John K. The Heywood Society Journal No. 52, Spring 2003 * Hanson, Michael. The Heywood Society Journal No. 56, Spring 2005

External links

*, including current timetable details {{coord, 53.1348, -2.0821, type:landmark_region:GB-STS, display=title 1985 establishments in England Railway lines opened in 1985 Heritage railways in Staffordshire 10¼ in gauge railways in England Miniature railways in the United Kingdom Articles containing video clips