The Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a small
railway museum
A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic ...
and
metre gauge railway
Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...
near
Irchester
Irchester is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, two miles (3 km) south-east of Wellingborough and two miles south-west of Rushden. The population of the village at the 2011 Census was 5,706 and estimated in 2019 at 5,767 ...
, near
Wellingborough
Wellingborough ( ) is a market town in the North Northamptonshire, Unitary Authority area, England, from London and from Northampton, north of the River Nene.
Originally named "Wendelingburgh" (the stronghold of Wændel's people), the Anglo ...
in
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
History
The area around Wellingborough was rich in
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...
. A quarry opened in Irchester around 1872 to extract the iron ore, which was mainly processed in the local iron works. Ironstone continued to be mined up until closure of the quarries in 1969.
In 1971 the
Northamptonshire County Council
Northamptonshire County Council was the county council for Northamptonshire in England from 1889 to 2021. It was originally created in 1889, reformed in 1974, and abolished in 2021. The headquarters of the council was County Hall, Northampton, ...
opened the
Irchester Country Park
Irchester is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, two miles (3 km) south-east of Wellingborough and two miles south-west of Rushden. The population of the village at the 2011 Census was 5,706 and estimated in 2019 at 5,767. ...
, which is located on the site of the former opencast ironstone quarries. The park has a network of walks, a visitors centre and a children's play area in a grass and woodland setting. The museum was set-up within the park in 1987, inside a purpose built building to the west of the original ironstone railway maintenance yard. Access to the museum is along a footpath which follows the line of the ironstone railway trackbed. There are over 40 items of narrow gauge railway rolling stock including four steam locomotives and six diesel locomotives. A 250-metre long demonstration track with a gauge of has been laid in the park.
Steam Railway Lines.
The original water tank has been recreated using a tank of similar design, complete with lettering matching the original.
Locomotives
See also
References
External links
Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
- official site
North Northamptonshire
Metre-gauge railways in England
Railway museums in England
Narrow-gauge railway museums in the United Kingdom
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