The Lea Bailey Light Railway is a
narrow-gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. 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) ...
in the United Kingdom. It is built on the site of the
Bailey Level Gold Mine.
An attempt was made in 2003 by the owners of
Clearwell Caves to open the mine as a tourist attraction, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. In 2012, a small group from the Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club discovered the mine and a quantity of disused railway equipment and proposed to the owners that a volunteer-led project could start work on restoring the site. As of 2014, two locomotives and a number of wagons have been moved to Lea Bailey from storage at Clearwell Caves or the nearby Hawthorn Tunnel.
Part of the railway is laid on the trackbed of the disused
Mitcheldean Road & Forest of Dean Junction Railway.
In 2013 the Lea Bailey Light Railway Society was formed; its members act as volunteers, undertaking all aspects of work on the site. A regular free newsletter is produced and sent out by e-mail.
Locomotives
Gallery
File:English Gold Mining, Forest of Dean, Glos. The Level Cutting.jpg, Postcard of the original Bailey Level gold mine
File:Motor Rail 21282 at Lea Bailey.jpg, Motor Rail locomotive 21282 on the curve leading to the mine
File:Eimco 12B rocker shovel at Lea Bailey Light Railway.jpg, EIMCO 12b Rocker Shovel Loader in the passing loop
A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains o ...
File:The Lea Bailey Light Railway (geograph 4375651).jpg, General view of the passing loop, shed and siding
References
External links
Website of the Lea Bailey Light RailwayLea Bailey Light Railway on Facebook
{{Transport in Gloucestershire
2 ft gauge railways in England
Rail transport in Gloucestershire
Rail transport in Herefordshire