Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway
Encyclopedia
The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway, a gauge
railway in South Lanarkshire
, Scotland
, is laid on the trackbed of the former Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch
of the Caledonian Railway
which led off the main line between and Glasgow
at Elvanfoot.
for about 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) towards Wanlockhead
and is the highest adhesion railway in the UK. The rack and pinion
Snowdon Mountain Railway
is higher. Trains are currently diesel
worked with the locomotive propelling the train up hill away from Leadhills.
The original railway
closed in the late 1930s shortly after the mine
s in Wanlockhead had closed.
The railway currently stops at the border of South Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway
.
principle as there is no run round loop facilities at the end of the run. Movements within the main station site at Leadhills are controlled from the reconstructed signal box which contains the original lever frame from Arrochar and Tarbet
signal box.
locomotive.
There are many wagons around the railway including the ubiquitous Hudson skip wagons and examples from RNAD.
Rail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
railway in South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, is laid on the trackbed of the former Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch
Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch
The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Light Railway was promoted by the Caledonian Railway, using the provisions of 1896 Light Railways Act. It opened to traffic between Elvanfoot and Leadhills on 1 October 1901, with the remaining section to Wanlockhead on 19 September 1902.- The line :With a summit of...
of the Caledonian Railway
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...
which led off the main line between and Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
at Elvanfoot.
Overview
The "preserved" section runs from LeadhillsLeadhills
Leadhills is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, 5¾ miles WSW of Elvanfoot. Population 835. Originally known as Waterhead, It is the second highest village in Scotland after Wanlockhead, lying 395m above sea-level, near the source of Glengonnar Water, an affluent of the River Clyde...
for about 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) towards Wanlockhead
Wanlockhead
Wanlockhead is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland nestling in the Lowther Hills one mile south of Leadhills at the head of the Mennock Pass, which forms part of the Southern Uplands...
and is the highest adhesion railway in the UK. The rack and pinion
Rack and pinion
A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. A circular gear called "the pinion" engages teeth on a linear "gear" bar called "the rack"; rotational motion applied to the pinion causes the rack to move, thereby...
Snowdon Mountain Railway
Snowdon Mountain Railway
The Snowdon Mountain Railway is a narrow gauge rack and pinion mountain railway in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is a tourist railway that travels for from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon, the highest peak in England and Wales....
is higher. Trains are currently diesel
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
worked with the locomotive propelling the train up hill away from Leadhills.
The original railway
Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch
The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Light Railway was promoted by the Caledonian Railway, using the provisions of 1896 Light Railways Act. It opened to traffic between Elvanfoot and Leadhills on 1 October 1901, with the remaining section to Wanlockhead on 19 September 1902.- The line :With a summit of...
closed in the late 1930s shortly after the mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
s in Wanlockhead had closed.
The railway currently stops at the border of South Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
.
Operation
Trains operate on the push-pullPush-pull train
Push–pull is a mode of operation for locomotive-hauled trains allowing them to be driven from either end.A push–pull train has a locomotive at one end of the train, connected via some form of remote control, such as multiple-unit train control, to a vehicle equipped with a control cab at the other...
principle as there is no run round loop facilities at the end of the run. Movements within the main station site at Leadhills are controlled from the reconstructed signal box which contains the original lever frame from Arrochar and Tarbet
Arrochar and Tarbet railway station
Arrochar and Tarbet railway station is a railway station on the West Highland Line in Scotland. It stands between the villages of Arrochar and Tarbet.- History :...
signal box.
Locomotives
Most locomotives are fitted with air brakes to allow them to operate passenger trains.| Number | Name | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Livery | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Elvan | 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 | 1955 | 9792 | Blue | Built for the London Brick Company, King’s Dyke Works, Whittlesea Whittlesea Whittlesea may mean:* Whittlesea, Victoria, a town some 40 km north of Melbourne.* City of Whittlesea, the local government area that contains it* Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, England used to be known as Whittlesea... . |
| 4 | Luce | 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 | 1966 | 7002/0467/6 | Green | Built for contractors Edmund Nuttall Ltd, Leith Leith -South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river.... . Acquired 1987 |
| 5 | Little Clyde | 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 | 1966 | 7002/0467/2 | Green | Built for contractors Edmund Nuttall Ltd, Leith Leith -South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river.... . Acquired 1987 |
| 6 | Clyde | 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 | 1975 | 6347 | Blue | Built for National Coal Board National Coal Board The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947... , Eppleton Collery. Acquired 1990 |
| 8 | Nith | Hudswell Clarke Hudswell Clarke Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited was an engineering and locomotive building company in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.-History:... |
4wDMF | 1956 | DM1002 | Red | Built for the National Coal Board National Coal Board The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947... , Waterloo Main Colliery. Acquired 1993 |
| 9 | Charlotte | Orenstein & Koppel | 0-4-0WT | 1913 | 6335 | Black | Acquired 1994. Being restored to full working order. |
| (10) | Mennock | Hunslet-Barclay | 0-4-0DM | 1994 | LD 9348 | ||
| (11) | Decauville Decauville The Decauville manufacturing company was founded by Paul Decauville , a French pioneer in industrial railways. Decauville's major innovation was the use of ready-made sections of light, narrow gauge track fastened to steel sleepers; this track was portable and could be disassembled and transported... |
0-4-0T | 1917 | 917 | Stored. Privately Owned | ||
| 12 | Clayton Clayton -Australia:*Clayton, Victoria*Clayton, South Australia*Electoral district of Clayton, an electoral district in Victoria-United Kingdom:*Clayton, Greater Manchester, in the City of Manchester*Clayton, South Yorkshire... |
4wDM | 1994 | 18190B | |||
| 21 | Moeyse | 4wDM | 1941 |
Rolling stock
The railway maintains four, air braked, coaches for use on its passenger trains. Three of the coaches are mounted on ex-peat wagon underframes, the fourth is mounted on the chassis of a former SimplexMotor 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...
locomotive.
There are many wagons around the railway including the ubiquitous Hudson skip wagons and examples from RNAD.