Yaxham 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 Minimum railw ...

light railway A light railway is a Rail transport, railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more Grade (slope), steep gradients and Minimum railway curve radius, tight curves to ...

(

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) ...

) situated adjacent to

Yaxham railway station Yaxham is a railway station in the village of Yaxham in the England, English county of Norfolk. The station is served by heritage services operated by the Mid-Norfolk Railway and is the site of the Yaxham Light Railway. The station is the only ...

on the

Mid-Norfolk Railway The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway, one of the longest in Great Britain. Preservation efforts began in 1974, but the line re-opened to passengers only in the mid-1990s as part of the "new generation" o ...

. It is located in the village of Yaxham in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. The railway is listed as exempt from the UK Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2000.

History

Mr David Charles Potter opened the site's first narrow gauge line in the former goods yard in 1967. This was constructed for his Hunslet "Cackler", and the disused tracks of this line can still be seen from passing trains on the Mid-Norfolk Railway. In 1969 the loco was moved across the standard gauge line to the Yaxham Park Light Railway (YPLR), which ran for over in meadows beyond the station, eventually being replaced by today's Yaxham Light Railway.

Present day

The main running line is some long. It operates a collection of industrial railway equipment acquired over the years from quarries and other locations throughout the country. Passenger trains are usually hauled by a variety of vintage

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

Rolling stock

Steam locomotives * YLR No.1 – "Coffee Pot" – vertical boilered locomotive built at Yaxham * YLR No. 20 – "Kidbrooke" –

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 of ...

Ltd built 1917 (named after its service at

RAF Kidbrooke Royal Air Force Kidbrooke or more simply RAF Kidbrooke is a former Royal Air Force station, situated in Kidbrooke in south-east London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The site was operational from 1917 to 1965 and was mainly used as a store ...

) *

Kerr Stuart Kerr, Stuart and Company Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer in Stoke-on-Trent, England. History It was founded in 1881 by James Kerr as "James Kerr & Company", and became "Kerr, Stuart & Company" from 1883 when John Stuart was taken on as a par ...

Joffre class No. 3010 - Sold to at a quarry at Carriers de la Vallee Heureuse, in France in June 1930. Imported by Rich Morris and displayed at Gloddfa Ganol. Moved to the Yaxham Light Railway, now awaiting restoration at the

Statfold Barn Railway The Statfold Barn Railway is a narrow gauge railway based near Tamworth, Staffordshire and partially in Warwickshire, England. Founded by engineering entrepreneur Graham Lee and his wife Carol at their farm-based home, they originally designed w ...

Diesel locomotives * YLR No. 2 – "Rusty" – Lister "Rail-Truck" built 1948 * YLR No. 3 – "Pest" – Lister "Rail-Truck" built 1954 * YLR No. 4 – "Goofy" – 1936

Orenstein & Koppel Orenstein & Koppel (normally abbreviated to "O&K") was a major German engineering company specialising in railway vehicles, escalators, and heavy equipment. It was founded on April 1, 1876, in Berlin by Benno Orenstein and Arthur Koppel. Ori ...

with a Single Cylinder Crude Oil Engine * YLR No. 6 – "Colonel" – Ruston & Hornsby built 1940 * YLR No. 7 – Ruston & Hornsby 16 hp class, built 1934 * YLR No. 10 – "Ousel" – Motor Rail Ltd ‘20/28hp’ plate frame type, built 1937 * YLR No. 13 – "Warboys" - Motor Rail Ltd ‘20/28hp’ plate frame type, built 1940 * YLR No. 14 – "Army 25" – Ruston & Hornsby class ‘20DL’, built 1943 * YLR No. 18 – "Planet" – F.C. Hibberd & Co Ltd type 39, built 1962 * YLR No. 19 – "Penlee" – Hudson Hunslet 25 hp, built 1942. Ex- Gloddfa Ganol * YLR No. 44 - Moes built c.1955 Yaxham Light Railway - geograph

Standard gauge goods wagons * GWR 126977 MOGO Cars Wagon, grounded body and former narrow gauge locomotive shed.GWR 126977 (body only) Motor Car Van built 1935
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References

External links

Archive version of Yaxham Light Railway websiteYaxham Light Railway on Facebook
{{coord, 52.65163, N, 0.95968, E, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(TG003101), display=title Heritage railways in Norfolk 2 ft gauge railways in England

History

Present day

Rolling stock

See also

References

External links