The Abbey Light Railway is a narrow gauge railway in Kirkstall

Kirkstall

Kirkstall is a suburb of north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on the eastern side of the River Aire. To the west is Bramley, to the east is Headingley and to the north is West Park. Kirkstall is around from the city centre and is close to the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan...

, Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.
Built by enthusiasts, the Railway runs from the nearby Bridge Street commercial area into the grounds of Kirkstall Abbey

Kirkstall Abbey

Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c.1152. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry...

. It operates most Sundays.

History

The railway dates back to 1974 when Peter Lowe applied for planning permission to build a railway at Kirkstall. The line was built from scratch by a group of local enthusiasts

Railfan

A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...

, most of whom were members of the Ffestiniog Railway

Ffestiniog Railway

The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park....

. Second hand rail was acquired from the Ffestiniog and the line was built over a number of years. Initially the line ran purely as a private railway but in 1986 it received permission to start public passenger services.

In 2006 plans were made to extend the line to the Armley Mills Industrial Museum

Armley Mills Industrial Museum

The Armley Mills Leeds Industrial Museum is a museum of industrial heritage located in Armley, west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It includes collections of textile machinery, railway equipment and heavy engineering amongst others....

 nearby. This would however involve crossing both the River Aire

River Aire

The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England of length . Part of the river is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation....

 and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Leeds and Liverpool Canal

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...

.

Locomotives

Number	Name	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
1	Loweco	Lister	0-4-0PM 6HP	1942	20449	Supplied new to Kelby Sand and Gravel Co. Lincolnshire. Later worked at Hoe Hill Tile works, Barton-on-Humber. Became the first locomotive of the ALR.
2	Atlas	Hunslet Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...	4wDM 20HP	1943	2465	Supplied new to the Ministry of Defence, then to the Strensall Brick and Tile works, finally worked at the Alne Tile works, near Selby Selby Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Situated south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse, Selby is the largest and, with a population of 13,012, most populous settlement of the wider Selby local government district.Historically a part of the West Riding... .
3	Odin	Motor Rail Motor Rail Motor Rail was a British locomotive-building company, based in Bedford. Formed in 1911 as The Motor Rail & Tramcar Co Ltd, they built petrol and diesel engined locomotives, mainly narrow gauge. During World War I over 900 locos were supplied for use on temporary military supply railways...	4wDM 20HP	1934	5859	Originally used as a contract locomotive, purchased by the Ham River Grit Co. Ltd then by Joseph Arnold & Sons, Leighton Buzzard Leighton Buzzard -Lower schools:*Beaudesert Lower School - Apennine Way*Clipstone Brook Lower School - Brooklands Drive*Greenleas Lower School - Derwent Road*Dovery Down Lower School - Heath Road*Heathwood Lower School - Heath Road*Leedon Lower School - Highfield Road... .
4	Vulcan	Ruston Ruston (engine builder) Ruston & Hornsby, later known as Ruston, was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England, the company's history going back to 1840. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included cars, steam...	4wDM 44/48HP	1942	198287	Supplied to Harpur Hill, Buxton then sold to the Royal Air Force Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...  at Burtonwood Burtonwood Burtonwood and Westbrook is a civil parish in the outermost suburbs of Warrington in Cheshire, England. Historically within Lancashire, the name Burtonwood is known worldwide as the location of the former RAF Station Burtonwood military camp. Burtonwood village itself is a few miles away from the... , finally acquired by Yorkshire Water Yorkshire Water Yorkshire Water is a water supply and treatment utility company servicing West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire, in England. The company has its origins in the Yorkshire Water Authority, one of ten...  for use at Chellow Heights and Thornton Moor near Bradford.
5		Ruston and Hornsby Ruston (engine builder) Ruston & Hornsby, later known as Ruston, was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England, the company's history going back to 1840. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included cars, steam...	4wDM 20HP	1946	235654	Supplied new to the Elsham Lime Co., sold to the Barrow Haven Tile works, Lincolnshire. Informally known on the ALR as Little Ruston.
6	Druid	Motor Rail Motor Rail Motor Rail was a British locomotive-building company, based in Bedford. Formed in 1911 as The Motor Rail & Tramcar Co Ltd, they built petrol and diesel engined locomotives, mainly narrow gauge. During World War I over 900 locos were supplied for use on temporary military supply railways...	4wDM 20HP	1941	8644	Supplied new to the Ministry of Defense. Sold to the Alne Tile works. Purchased by the Creekmoor Light Railway Creekmoor Light Railway The Creekmoor Light Railway was a small privately run gauge narrow gauge railway. It was situated off Creekmoor Lane, to the north of Poole, between Broadstone and Fleetsbridge, Dorset, and was operated by a group of local enthusiasts from October 1968, to April 1973.-Origins:With the closure and...  at Poole Poole Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council... . Has been heavily rebuilt at the ALR, with only the chassis, wheels, transmission and nameplate surviving from the original.
7		Orenstein & Koppel	4wDM 11HP	1935	5926	Supplied new to Cape Universal Building Products Ltd., Uxbridge. Preserved at the Chalk Pits Museum, Amberley. Currently being rebuilt.
12	"George"	Greenbat	4wBE	1957	2848

External links

• Details of Railway
• Movie clips of the railway These were taken some time ago on 8 mm and include a movie of some of the construction. Small movies for dial up, others need DSL
  Digital Subscriber Line
  Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
  
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