Rhyl Miniature Railway
Encyclopedia
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
: Rheilffordd Fach y Rhyl) is a gauge
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...
miniature railway line located in Rhyl
Rhyl
Rhyl is a seaside resort town and community situated on the north east coast of Wales, in the county of Denbighshire , at the mouth of the River Clwyd . To the west is the suburb of Kinmel Bay, with the resort of Towyn further west, Prestatyn to the east and Rhuddlan to the south...
on the North Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
Coast. The line runs in a circle around a boating lake near the promenade, to the west of the town centre. The railway is operated by Rhyl Steam Preservation Trust a Registered charity.
The railway has a long association with one type of locomotive, a class of six one-third scale 4-4-2 tender engines built by Albert Barnes & Co of Rhyl.
Locomotives
| Name | Number | Type | Built By | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joan | 101 | 4-4-2 | Albert Barnes & Co | 1920 | Designed by Henry Greenly this was the first of 6 locomotives of this type built |
| Railway Queen | 102 | 4-4-2 | Albert Barnes & Co | 1921 | This locomotive worked at the Woodland Park Miniature Railway; a short-lived line beside the shore of the Isle of Grain, and was originally named Michael not to be confused with 105 |
| Michael | 105 | 4-4-2 | Albert Barnes & Co | c1925 | Now in Full Working Order |
| Billy | 106 | 4-4-2 | Albert Barnes & Co | c1930 | A Static exhibit in the Albert Barnes Room on site |
| 44 | 4-4-0 | Cagney Brothers New York | c1910 | Is one of a few working examples in the UK. She was brought to the UK in 1999 disassembled and rebuilt from there | |
| Clara | S/O 0-4-2DM | Guest & Saunders Light Engineering | 1961 | This Steam outline Diesel was built for services on the Dudley zoo railway and brought to Rhyl in 1978. Being rebuilt with hydraulic transmission winter 2011 | |
| 2W-2-4BER | Hayne/Minirail | 1958 | This Rail car was converted to battery power in 1983 from a normal coach | ||
| 10498 | 4wDM | Lister R A Lister and Company R A Lister & Company was founded in Dursley, Gloucestershire, in 1867 by Sir Robert Ashton Lister , to produce agricultural machinery. The family was originally from Yorkshire but Ashton's father relocated to Dursley in 1817.... |
1938 | This locomotive was converted from 2 ft Gauge to 15 and brought to Rhyl in 1999 | |
| Henry Greenly | 4-4-2 | Rhyl Miniature Railway | 2008– still under construction | This Steam Engine is currently being built and is a replica of a Bassett-Lowke Bassett-Lowke Bassett-Lowke was a toy company in Northampton, England, founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, that specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets... Class 10 locomotive |
Rolling stock
The Rolling stock on the RMR (Rhyl Miniature Railway) Includes 8 "Cars De luxe", 2 small carriages, 2 Cagney carriages, a various other non passenger stock.Albert Barnes Room
This Room holds Billy, Display boards, a Hands on interactive signalling feature and a interactive touch screen computer.History
Work on the railway began in December 1910 when it was surveyed by Henry Greenly, to whom permission was given to start work in March 1911, and the railway opened to the public on 1 May 1911. The railway proved to be a great success in its first year. The railway was originally operated using a single Bassett-LowkeBassett-Lowke
Bassett-Lowke was a toy company in Northampton, England, founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, that specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets...
Class 10 Atlantic and 6 Bassett-Lowke carriages. In 1913 it was decided to buy a second Class 10 and the "cars de luxe" were built in the companies' workshop. In 1920 the decision was taken to replace the two Class 10 with something more powerful due to them being stretched to their limits during peak season. The resulting engine was the "Barnes Atlantic". Six were built in Rhyl, 4 for the RMR and 2 for elsewhere.
It all came to an end in 1969. Rhyl Amusements was by then a subsidiary of Trust House Forte Leisure Ltd, whereas the Marine Lake itself belongs to the Borough Council. Trust House would not invest further in the Marine Lake site without a very long lease being granted, which the Council refused. As a result, Trust House decided to concentrate all its resources at Ocean Beach, and handed back the Marine Lake to the Council in 1970, completely bare.
The trackbed then lay bare until 1978 when it was relaid. The railway then started running trains on 1 July 1978, to which brings us the present day.
The new Central station building was opened in May 2007.
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