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The Sand Hutton Miniature Railway was a miniature gauge

Ridable miniature railway

A ridable miniature railway is a ground-level, large scale model railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are models of full-sized railway locomotives .-Overview:Typically they have a rail track gauge between and , though both larger and...

 estate railway serving the estate of Sir Robert Walker, the Fourth Baronet of Sand Hutton, Yorkshire.

History

Walker began experimenting with a gauge miniature railway

Ridable miniature railway

A ridable miniature railway is a ground-level, large scale model railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are models of full-sized railway locomotives .-Overview:Typically they have a rail track gauge between and , though both larger and...

 in 1910. In 1912 he decided to build a miniature railway of that gauge in the grounds of Sand Hutton

Sand Hutton

Sand Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about north-east of York.Part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs's Food and Environment Research Agency is sited at Sand Hutton....

 hall. By the end of the year, 350 yards of track had been laid and the locomotive Synolda had been acquired. By the end of 1913 the railway had been extended to 1245 yards (1,138 m), and was extended again by 1/2 mi in 1914.

At the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 in 1914, the railway went into hiatus. Most of the local men joined the war effort and the Hall and grounds largely closed. After the war, Walker returned to the Hall and re-opened it. He planned was to extend the miniature railway to connect with the nearby North Eastern Railway

North Eastern Railway (UK)

The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...

 station at Warthill

Warthill

Warthill is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about six miles east of York. The village is part of Ryedale District Council....

, a total distance of 7+1/4 mi. This longer line was intended to serve as the main transportation system for the estate. A Light Railway Order

Light Railways Act 1896

The Light Railways Act 1896 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be obtained by the company that wished to construct it, which greatly added to the cost...

 was applied for and granted, in January 1920.

Work on the extension started in May 1920 with the trackbed being constructed near Warthill station. By the end of the year the trackbed was complete as far as Sand Hutton, and work was underway on the 3 miles (4.8 km) long branch to the brickworks at Claxton. However much of the new line was steeply graded and it became obvious that a miniature locomotive like Synolda would not be capable of working the new line efficiently. Walker began searching for a more powerful solution to his transportation needs.

In December 1920 the Government announced the sale of the equipment from the gauge railway at the Deptford Meat Depot. This included track and rolling stock of a much more substantial nature. Walker purchased most of the Deptford equipment and set about converting the miniature railway into the Sand Hutton Light Railway. By 1922 the last remains of the miniature railway were gone and the remaining rolling stock was up for sale.

Rolling stock

Name	Builder	Builder's type	Whyte Type	Built	Notes
Synolda	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 30	4-4-2	1912	Named after Sir Robert's first wife. Originally built for the Miniature Railway Company of Great Britain. She was sold to Belle Vue Miniature Railway around 1925. Now preserved at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a minimum gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth Station near Boot in the valley of Eskdale, in the Lake District... .

The railway used four 4-wheel open carriages built by Basset-Lowke, each seating up to eight passengers. Walker also had two vehicles built at Sand Hutton: a closed bogie salon carriage and a 4-wheel closed brake van. The salon carriage survived the line and passed to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway

Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway

The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a minimum gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth Station near Boot in the valley of Eskdale, in the Lake District...