[NiInJa]

Last weekend we did a quick trip to the Lake District of England, although it was not the most ideal time to visit given the cold winds and a bad weather forecast, the idea was to take a ride in one of the historic smallest gauge trains colloquially known as the ''La’al Ratty''



Owned by the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Company, this is one of the oldest minimum-gauge railway that is operational not just as a tourist attraction, but also a means to connect about 5 places in the valley of Esk. It also has a properly operated signalling system, loops, car shed, maintenance yard and all the works that one would expect in normal trains that we travel in.

With a total travel time of 40 minutes one way from Ravenglass to Dalegarth, we had a good one hour and twenty minutes of fun in this cute little train.

With a track width of 15 inch, everything is small here, the station, the platform, signal box, track changing levers, turn-table and the shed which is bound to excite the kid inside you.


The train starts from Ravenglass station, it is next to the 'real' Ravenglass station in the Lake District.

The train route was originally constructed in 1870s to facilitate transport of iron ore from the mines in the valley of Esk to nearby station where a standard gauge train would pick the ores and transport it. Soon, it was opened for public transport in 1876. Back then, it was a 2feet 9 inch gauge track.

It underwent lot of closures and re-openings in the late 1800s and finally in 1915 a model trainmaker named Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke regauged the entire line to 15 inch gauge and restarted operations again. The current engines are from that era. As one would expect, these operations slowly ceased after world war 2 modernization.


The heritage steam engine that pulls the train. Operations on this route restarted in the 1960s after a private company was formed (R&ER co) to restore the train and tracks. Mostly driven by popular demand and railway enthusiasts who wanted to see it run again.



Inside the tiny cabin. The train has 1st class coach as well, with heating provided in them. Then there are open coaches to get a good view. We managed to sit in the last coach (which became the first coach on the return journey)

Similar to sitting in a caboose.



View from the rear window


Negotiating a curve. The train reaches speeds of about 23 miles per hour


Reaching Dalegarth station. Two trains run in summers which makes use of loops and signals at some places.


We missed our train and had to take the last one available as one of our kids could not deal with the winding roads that lead up to the Ravenglass station and threw up in the car

Dalegarth station is a scenic spot where one can take a walk in soak in the scenery around, but given our circumstances, we had only 10 minutes before the same train left for Ravenglass

Sitting in the same coach, this time we were the first ones in it.


The smoke of burning coal and the steam was not excessive as one would imagine, it was bearable.


Admiring the working of steam engine...



Once we reached Ravenglass station, the engine is detached and rolled on the turntable where it is rotated manually by pushing the engine.



Another angle..


The maintenance shed next to the station.


Some junk coaches kept around, the entire area has loads of objects that replicate standard gauge railways.

[NiInJa]

Next to the station is a museum which has artifacts of the train and the route.



The history of the original train called the Ow'd Ratty.


Timetable


Ticket and operating manuals along with scale models.


Mr. Bassett-Lowke's models which were used as reference for building real size engines.






Coach wheels with some high end engineering. The wheels were too small, about 6.5 to 7 inch in diameter.


Engine controls, some were allowed to be touched and operated...


Wagons to sit in...


And some tiny yet powerful steam engines...




Had to head back to see the platforms before we left


Scotland and England has some very interesting train museums and parks that have hobby trains operational. As boring as the national rail is here, with relatively slower trains (compared to Europe) lack of electrification, frequent cancellations etc. the hobby/historical train scene is really exciting if one is a train enthusiast.

This is one from the Strathaven park which we went last year. I could not take good photos because of the crowd, but will try to get good ones when we go again this year.




Thanks for reading!

[Jeroen]

Thanks for sharing. Awesome. I love all these traditional steam railways. As you say England and Scotland has a lot of them. I have been to a fair number of them over the years, but I had not even heard of this one.

Very nicely done and maintained by the looks.
Jeroen

[NiInJa]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I have been to a fair number of them over the years, but I had not even heard of this one.

Blame it on poor marketing skills There are lot of hidden gems like these all over in the U.K. but they are not well advertised.

You should definitely not miss this one But try to avoid in peak summer season as gets too crowded and is mostly booked on weekends. The people working at the coffee shop, museum and bars are locals who have seen it all and I had a good chat with some of them. Very nice people.

[V.Narayan]

Thank you @NiInJa for this delightful dinky train experience. As cute as they come.

[BABABOT]

They had this turntable at Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Station as well. Surprisingly, they have removed it and made some construction there now

[wooka]

Love those train rides. Have taken them twice to Dymchurch. And what a lovely beach that, to receive you!

[BlackBeard]

Originally Posted by NiInJa

There are lot of hidden gems like these all over in the U.K. but they are not well advertised.

Thank you very much for sharing this with us.

I had never heard about it till I saw your post. What speeds are these trains capable of?