Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway

The first public narrow gauge railway in England, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway was opened in 1875 to 3 foot gauge. Known locally as the “Ratty” its major purpose was to transport iron and copper ores from the Nab Gill Mines near Boot about 8 miles away, and slate from the local quarries, to the main line railway at Ravenglass. The line was extremely scenic and after much improvement of the line passenger trains were introduced in November 1876. After a hesitant beginning, and despite becoming a tourist attraction, it was uneconomical and within six months the railway was bankrupt. For the next few years it struggled on in the hands of the receivers. The mines ceased working in 1884. The last goods train ran in April 1913. In 1915 the line was bought by the well known model engineer, Wynne Bassett-Lowke and R. Proctor-Mitchell, (representing Narrow Gauge Railways Ltd).

By 1917 the entire line had been re-gauged to 15 ins and a service was established using locomotives designed and built for use in pleasure parks. Bassett-Lowke’s locomotives, built as models not for hard work, proved too flimsy and underpowered for their task. The new Company was fortunate to acquire most of the equipment, and all of the locomotives, from Sir Arthur Heywood’s Duffield Bank railway following Sir Arthur’s death in 1916.

As well as passengers, the line transported goods and mail to and from the valley. In 1922 a granite quarry was opened at Beckfoot, and the railway was used to transport the granite between Beckfoot Quarry and a crushing plant at Murthwaite. To cope efficiently with both stone and passengers a new locomotive, River Esk, was designed and built in 1923. Four years later the ex-Heywood tank locomotive Muriel, which had arrived at the Railway in 1917 was rebuilt at Ravenglass and renamed River Irt. The Irt and the Esk proved to be the mainstays of the Railway for many years to come.

From 1929, the track between Murthwaite to Ravenglass was converted to dual gauge, with standard gauge track straddling the 15in gauge rails. A standard gauge 0-6-0 diesel locomotive built by Kerr Stuart No.4421, was obtained to work the Ravenglass-Murthwaite section.

The line was one of the first in Britain to use internal combustion-engined locomotives. From the 1920s a high proportion of the trains were worked by petrol and then diesel power.

Both quarries and railway closed in 1953 and five years later the then owner, The Keswick Granite Company put the railway up for sale. No purchaser was found and in desperation a public auction was proposed. If an acceptable bid for the whole was not forthcoming, the railway was to be broken up into 60 lots. The railway was rescued from this fate with a bid from a new operating company formed from, and supported by a Preservation Society. Under the chairmanship of Lord Wakefield of Kendal many improvements were made, a policy perpetuated by members of his family today. In addition to extensions at Ravenglass, new buildings at The Green and Muncaster Mill, and a radio link for train control, new locomotives joined Irt and Esk, and covered carriages became a priority.