The Exmoor Steam Railway is a narrow gauge steam railway and locomotive manufacturer, located at Bratton Fleming

Bratton Fleming

Bratton Fleming is a large village near Barnstaple, in Devon, England. The population in 2001 was 942.The village runs along one street which climbs steadily up the foothills of Exmoor. The Flemings had their seat at Chimwell, now a farmhouse called Chumhill, which Risdon said was "one of the...

 in North Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

.

12¼ in (311mm) gauge

The railway was built by the Stirland family and first opened as a tourist attraction in August 1990. At this time the railway ran in a circuit from the main station at Exmoor Central, trains descending on a large embankment before climbing back up through a spiral and tunnel. In 1996 a new station was opened at Cape of Good Hope, which changed the line to an "end-to-end" layout. At the end of the 2001 season, the decision was taken to close the railway to the public and concentrate on building new steam locomotives and associated equipment. The railway remains in full working order, and work started in the winter 2008/9 on extending the railway. By mid 2010 an additional half a mile of track had been brought into use, with a very steep ascending and descending ruling gradients of 1 in 28.

Locomotives used regularly at Exmoor

Name	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Notes
Bray Valley	E.S.R.	2-4-2 T	189	1989	Rebuilt to 10.25 in gauge and sold to private owner c. 1994
Yeo Valley	E.S.R.	2-8-0 T	190	1990	Withdrawn from service and dismantled
Lorna Doone	E.S.R.	0-6-0 T	191	1991	Rebuilt as John Remy (10.25 in gauge) and sold to Beale Light Railway. 2001
Denzil	E.S.R.	0-4-2 T+T	299	1995
Dennis	E.S.R.	0-4-2 T	302	1997
Lorna Doone	E.S.R.	0-4-2 T	330	2006
Black Beauty	E.S.R.	2-6-2	325	2009	Sister locomotive to Mariloo at Exbury Gardens Exbury Gardens Exbury Gardens is a famous garden in Hampshire, England, which belongs to a branch of the Rothschild family. It is situated in the village of Exbury, just to the east of Beaulieu across the river from Bucklers Hard...

A number of other locomotives have run at Exmoor including Nos.293, 296 & 297 all now based at the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway

Rudyard Lake Steam Railway

The Rudyard Lake Steam Railway is a minimum gauge railway and the third railway of any gauge to run along the side of Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire. The railway runs for on the track bed of an old standard gauge North Staffordshire Railway line. After the NSR line closed down, a small narrow gauge...

1 ft 11½ in (597 mm) gauge

During the 1990s, a number of gauge Beyer Garratt

Garratt

A Garratt is a type of steam locomotive that is articulated in three parts. Its boiler is mounted on the centre frame, and two steam engines are mounted on separate frames, one on each end of the boiler. Articulation permits larger locomotives to negotiate curves and lighter rails that might...

 articulated locomotives from South Africa arrived on site and were displayed. One locomotive was sold to the Welsh Highland Railway

Welsh Highland Railway

The Welsh Highland Railway is a long restored narrow gauge heritage railway in North Wales, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway...

 in 2006, whilst another has been under long term restoration. Over the winter 2008/9 work started on constructing around 1/2 mile of gauge railway to run the Garratts on.

Locomotives

Name	Builder	Type	Number	Built	Notes
	Anglo Franco Belge	2-8-2	2685	1955	S.A.R. NG15
	Beyer Peacock	2-6-2+2-6-2	130	1951	S.A.R. NGG16
	Beyer Peacock	2-6-2+2-6-2	115	1939	S.A.R. NGG16
	Beyer Peacock	2-6-2+2-6-2T	109	1939	S.A.R. NGG16, sold to Pete Waterman Trust Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman OBE is an English record producer, occasional songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting team he wrote and produced many hit singles...  in 2009 for future use on Welsh Highland Railway Welsh Highland Railway The Welsh Highland Railway is a long restored narrow gauge heritage railway in North Wales, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway...
	Cockerill	2-6-2+2-6-2T	87	1937	S.A.R. NGG16, Sold to Welsh Highland Railway 2006
	Hanomag	2-6-2+2-6-2T	77	1928	S.A.R. NGG13, repainted in Dark Blue livery 2010
EDDY	Hunslet	4wDH	9336	1946	Now at Exbury Gardens Exbury Gardens Exbury Gardens is a famous garden in Hampshire, England, which belongs to a branch of the Rothschild family. It is situated in the village of Exbury, just to the east of Beaulieu across the river from Bucklers Hard...  after re-gauging to
	Motor Rail	4wDM	8856	1944

Engineering Works

Since the railway opened, there has been a large workshop on site, which was used to build all the locomotives and equipment used on the railway. In 2001, the decision was taken to close the railway as a tourist attraction and concentrate on the manufacture of miniature and narrow gauge railway equipment.

Exmoor Steam Railway builds several new steam locomotives a year, as well as rolling stock and also advise on the setup and expansion of miniature and narrow gauge railways. Exmoor is a member of Britains Great Little Railways

Britains Great Little Railways

Britains Great Little Railways is a company, created in 1994, to provide an umbrella organisation for the owners and operators of the miniature and narrow gauge railways in Great Britain...

and has supplied locomotives to many other members who operate public miniature and narrow gauge railways.

External links

• Exmoor Steam Railway
• Rudyard Lake Steam Railway the largest Exmoor locomotive user